Menu Sequences using PTE

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Guys

I hear what you are saying but I'm unsure what exactly you want

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[nobeefstu]

Eric,

I hear what you are saying but I'm unsure what exactly you want

See the attached image for the button object filestring location. Copy the entire text content as displayed in your button setting and paste it into your Forum post. Taking a screenshot may not reveal the entire text content. At least we will see what your trying to run and have to sort it out from there.

[JRR]

Hi Guys

I hear what you are saying but I'm unsure what exactly you want

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

Eric:

Stu is right with his posting above, but just FYI what I was talking about was using the FILE > CREATE BACK-UP IN ZIP

See pic below

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Thanks guys I'll give it a try later, been a long day at the audiology clinic, so I now have two digital ears Eh!!!

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Guys

I've had another fiddle with the menu, all the shows on there open normally, with the exception of To Infinity & Beyond, which doesn't make any attempt to open on the button, but opens in WMP by clicking the file directly. The other show with a problem is A Chance of Snow, I've had another go at this one and although it doesn't open cleanly, it does bring up a second screen which then starts the show with a second click, this is the one created in Elements 5. I created a zip folder of the menu as requested and attached it. Hope this helps.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

Quick Up-Date

To Infinity etc does start with the sound but the WMP screen is behind the menu screen, it's 70% there but needs someone to spot the error.

Eric

WCC AV Comp Menu_Jan27-2010_8-17-23.zip

[fh1805]

Eric,

...To Infinity & Beyond, which doesn't make any attempt to open on the button, but opens in WMP by clicking the file directly...

This suggests to me that the file extension .wmv is not associated with Windows Media Player. Does this file launch into WMP if you use Windows Explorer to navigate to the file and then double click on the file name? If it does, then all I can suggest is that you double-check the spelling of the path and file name in the button. If it doesn't but, instead, asks you which program to use, then I am correct in my analysis.

...A Chance of Snow...although it doesn't open cleanly, it does bring up a second screen which then starts the show with a second click

I suspect you've done all that you can with this one.

Slightly off-topic comment:

If, after your experiences this year, you feel that you want to continue with an A-V competition at WCC can I suggest that you get the committee to agree to the following rule:

- all sequences entered into this competition must be provided as self-contained, stand-alone executable files that do not require the presence of any specific software on the PC in order to run them.

And then gently (or even forcibly!) steer the members towards PTE.

regards,

Peter

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Peter

Re getting people in the club to use PTE, at present I won't comment on here, maybe a quick word at the group meeting next week? I don't think I have time left on this earth to do what you suggest.

Re To Infinity etc, you must have been posting at the same time as I was modifying mine, it does start on the button but the WMP screen opens behind the menu screen and I have to physically remove the menu screen to display it.

The name on the button is the title of the show and the file name via a short cut to my D drive to keep the weight off my desktop, SS attached. The other exe file entry "Duxford" has the title on the button which is slightly different to the file name & opens OK.?

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[fh1805]

Eric,

Duxford is an exe show so doesn't require any other software. Thus demonstrating the value of having that rule in place for future shows. In the context of these problems launching sequences, it doesn't really matter what software has created the sequence - just so long as it IS an exe file.

I don't know whether you can do anything about WMP not coming to the front when you launch "Infinity". Perhaps nobeefstu or Conflow might be able to offer some advice if they read this post in this topic.

regards,

Peter

[JRR]

Eric,

....

I don't know whether you can do anything about WMP not coming to the front when you launch "Infinity". Perhaps nobeefstu or Conflow might be able to offer some advice if they read this post in this topic.

regards,

Peter

I don't have the knowledge that nobeefstu or Conflow have, but I thought I would chip in a couple of thoughts

I have one show that I run off a menu that requires WMP to run. It is a .avi file not a wmv. The file type should not matter at all, but I have not had any issues with it when using a ver 4.48 menu. I will try it with ver 6 and see what happens.

A second related issue re the issue of WMP opening behind the menu screen, reminds me of your tests Peter a few weeks ago. In some combinations you had shows running behind the screen, is this perhaps the issue here. While your tests were with exe files, maybe the wmv is reacting differently.

The troublesome issue might be the HARDWARE ACCELERATION factor (or lack thereof in the wmv file). In an earlier thread Ed Overstreet and I brought up an issue we had at our club with (all exe) shows opening behind the menu screen, After discussion in the thread the issue was narrowed down to the D3D not being activated for the menu show.

Maybe Ed will come along and refresh my memory if I have mis-spoken here.

[JRR]

BINGO !!!!!

I ran an .avi file from a menu created in ver 6.

If the D3D is ticked on, the avi runs behind the screen, if the D3D is ticked off, then it runs in front of the menu screen.

Eric:

To remedy the situation for now, see what happens with the launch of the other shows if you have D3D turned off. You might get a momentary flicker as the show starts (which Peter will certainly see :) ) but few others might.

Or set them up using ver 4.49. again you might get a (even less) momentary flicker.

Or run the show from a desktop shortcut, after you have shown the others that launch OK.

[fh1805]

Jim,

Interesting analysis! But don't overlook the role played by the operating system. Windows XP and Windows Vista behave very differently when playing menu sequences. I cannot speak for Windows7 but would expect it to behave similar to Vista since it shares a common heritage.

regards,

Peter

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Jim & other contributers.

I am happy to report that the Patron Saint of PTE has smiled on my efforts. The WMP show now opens on the button press, (but only in the WMP start screen mode not full screen view)despite not having made any further adjustments other than shutting the LT down and re-starting it. Now if I could only persuade one of the entrants to reduce his 6 minute show of 255mb down to a size my LT can handle without juddering & stuttering, my cup would overflow. However I think hell will freeze over before that happens. We are now 80% ready for the comp' so I am going with that, currently the oversized show will be run on the producers equipment.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[nobeefstu]

Seems like everyone here has things under control ... ?

The WMP show now opens on the button press, (but only in the WMP start screen mode not full screen view)despite not having made any further adjustments

I do know that WMP likes to reopen using its last previous state. I still use WMP v9 and there is no way to completely exit directly from Full Screen ... without closing Full Screen first.

I dont know what View settings you are using in WMP, but if you play with the View|Video settings and disable checkbox Fit Player to Video on Start you may be able to overcome your described issue as I understand it.

But with all these different WMP versions and updates ... who knows

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Nobeefstu

I still use 9, they keep trying to get me to up-date but as you are aware after 9 restrictions were introduced. I'm reasonably happy with how things are with the menu now so I will leave it as it is, maybe when non PTE users see what they are missing they may be persuaded to join the club..

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1

[Ed Overstreet]

The troublesome issue might be the HARDWARE ACCELERATION factor (or lack thereof in the wmv file). In an earlier thread Ed Overstreet and I brought up an issue we had at our club with (all exe) shows opening behind the menu screen, After discussion in the thread the issue was narrowed down to the D3D not being activated for the menu show.

Maybe Ed will come along and refresh my memory if I have mis-spoken here.

Jim replied later confirming he'd verified the hardware acceleration issue, but I thought I'd reinforce his findings -- to date, in every instance I've seen of an AV show running behind, instead of in front of, the menu show, it's been because the hardware acceleration switch was turned On for the menu show. If it's Off, this has never happened in my experience (not to say it couldn't in someone else's experience with other OS or software configurations ... computers being what they are).

Sorry for the tardy reply, I've been late today in trolling through the websites I normally check earlier in the day (like this one).

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Despite my efforts to construct a menu to cover all the entries (six) I still find I have a problem with two of them. Both are the oversized files that don't run smoothly on my LT. I been in touch with both contestants but cannot get them to adjust their file sizes to enable them to run smoothly on my LT. The only alternative is to use the entrants LT which does run the show OK.

So last night it came to mind someone on here had mentioned connecting two PC's to one LT. So I dug out the literature on mine & the club projector and from what I can gather, it is possible. Both projectors have 3 x 15 pin VGA/Sub D type sockets.

So this morning I tried to connect my LT to both projectors via the alternative sockets, neither would project. The Canon proj' shows a DVI/VGA adaptor in the line to the second socket, it says it's supplied but I haven't seen it. The Sony proj' has only a leaflet, no dedicated manual. Can anyone please relate their experiences when doing what I'm trying to do. I've attached copies of what info I have.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[JRR]

Eric:

I believe it was me (in another posting here) that mentioned connecting two computers to one projector.

I don't have our club projector in front on me, but our Canon Realis projector has two inputs, both DVI I believe, and we have buttons on top to allow a choice which as to source to access.

A PC was connected by a VGA/DVI cable and a MAC connected by whatever their output connection was to the second DVI (VGA ?) input on the Projector. But they could have set up two PCs.

Essentially it looks somewhat like your set-up, so I suspect you just need to go through the manual a little bit more, do some silent swearing, and you'll get it working.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Jim I have my big charity do the day after the AV comp so I don't want to cock up either the two projectors or L/Tops, so I'm treading carefully at the moment with experimentation. There are loads of DVI/VGA adaptors on ebay so I may try to get one before Monday. Unfortunately the guy who normally keeps the club Proj' is on safari in Africa so I can't check the box it came to see if the missing connector is there.

LATER. Just checked the projectors again and neither has a DVI input, it's a DVI and a VGA output for a monitor,

so I think neither will take two inputs only via the VGA S Video or video connections & I don't want to go that route as I understand the picture quality is inferior to the VGA connection. The pictures posted previously don't match what we've actually got on the machines.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[JRR]

Eric

S-video was certainly a much poorer quality image when we tried it working on other issues last spring

[davegee]

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I have just been constructing a menu and a couple of things cropped up which I would like to mention.

Forgive me if they have been mentioned before - I have speed read the thread but couldn't find anything which confirmed what I have found.

My menu is driving three sequences on my Vista laptop which were constructed on my XP desktop machine.

My desktop machine was running v6.0 while my laptop was running v6.0.1.

I made the menu on the Vista Laptop and wanted to use "Run Slideshow and Return" to the menu.

I immediately got error messages regarding the incompatibily of the Menu with previous versions of PTE. I upgraded the XP machine to v6.0.1 and found that all was well - the sequences were easily upgraded to 6.0.1 and were then found to be completely compatible with the menu.

I then decided that a little experiment was in order and I upgraded the laptop to v6.0.2 and upgraded the Menu to v6.0.2. The result was that the v6.0.1 sequences would now not run with the v6.0.2 Menu.

I had to go through the same procedure again by upgrading the XP desktop machine to v6.0.2 and upgrading the sequences to v6.0.2 to achieve compatibility with the Menu.

The end result is that I have a Menu driving three sequences ready to show in a couple of weeks and I'm completely happy with the way it works.

No flashbacks to the screen - nothing to interrupt a smooth playing of the sequences with a little talking in between. I'm a happy bunny.

So why this post?

I THOUGHT that a menu made with ANY v6.x.x menu would work with ANY v6.x.x sequence - obviously this is not so.

It appears that if Igor has to introduce a v6.0.3 for any reason then a MENU constructed with the said v6.0.3 would be incompatible with any sequences made with v6.0.2 or earlier.

Anyone else noticed this? Has it been mentioned in another thread?

DG

[JRR]

I THOUGHT that a menu made with ANY v6.x.x menu would work with ANY v6.x.x sequence - obviously this is not so.

It appears that if Igor has to introduce a v6.0.3 for any reason then a MENU constructed with the said v6.0.3 would be incompatible with any sequences made with v6.0.2 or earlier.

Anyone else noticed this? Has it been mentioned in another thread?

DG

Dave:

Can't say I am as up on this as others, but I would have expected what you did - no need to worry about 6.0 vs 6.01 vs 6.02 etc for menus. I guess I am lucky as I haven't upgraded beyond ver 6.0 and have re-compiled all my shows to 6.0 to get smoother starts than using RUN APPLICATION

Thanks for the warning though as I am not sure I want to re-compile all my shows (50-55) that are actively used if I happen to do a menu on a newer version of ver 6.

[fh1805]

Dave,

I think the point was covered in a previous thread some months ago when Run Slideshow first came out. The bottom line is that all sequences invoked by Run Slideshow (and Run Slideshow with Return) must be "Created" using the exact same version of PTE. In this context a bug fix "dot version" is a distinct version. And so is each "dot" version of a beta programme.

In my way of working this now makes it essential that I keep everything for a given sequence stored together under one "master folder" for that sequence. I can then quickly open the project under a newer version of PTE and do a Create...Create As of an EXE file and store that EXE under the folder that I will use on the night I present to an audience. I then cancel the prompt to save the modified project file.

Once you accept that this how PTE works (and has to work because all the Run Slideshow sequences will share a single copy of the "engine code" in memory) it becomes the new way that you work a collection of sequences into a menu-driven programme.

regards,

Peter

[nobeefstu]

Dave,

Anyone else noticed this? Has it been mentioned in another thread?

As Peter has said ... this has popped up for discussion a few times in the past.

This is the one of the earilest posts I found as it related to Run Slideshow when first introduced in v5.6 ... almost exactly a year ago.

PicturesToExe Deluxe 5.6.1 Beta March 12, 2009

Post #13 - Posted 26 February 2009 - 01:37 PM

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9512&view=findpost&p=62520

[davegee]

Thanks both.

As I said above - I was aware that there was a version specific issue - but I wasn't aware that each new "dot" bug fix (or whatever) constituted a "new version".

I now know!

I will need to formulate a strategy for coping with this - Peter, your method sounds good. The overall appearance of the menu driven sequence is first class. The last time that I did a sequence I was getting the flash back to the desktop problem. You can see how long ago that was.

PTE is brilliant!

DG