1920 x 1080

[BrianH]

Having been involved in AV for many years (starting in slide tape days) and having been successful in some competitions I would like to add my take on AV competitions.

As others have indicated I also feel that it is what you produce thats important not necessarily how and with what. For example I have seen some good photography from a budget priced compact camera and I have seen some poor photography from very expensive equipment. I no longer belong to a photographic club but when I did it used to annoy me when the first question asked of your work was what camera do you use.

I appreciate that certain standards are required, ie sharp images (unless deliberate softness is required), correct exposure and image composition. We need good image manipulation software and in our case quality AV composition software, ie PTE. We need knowledge, which we gain from more experienced AV producers and this forum, but above all, including technicalities, we need the interest and love of our hobby to create something that not only we are pleased with but hopefully attracts other peoples attention. We can of course also try and push the boundries which appears to be frowned upon by some of the old school. Do it your own way and ENJOY it.

The most enjoyable things in my life, apart from my family, are photography and music. To bring these interests together and give my photography a purpose I compose AV sequences. Photography makes me see more of the world around me (good and bad) and music gives me various emotions.

I get as much, if not more, pleasure when I show my work to friends and acquaintances and get feed back such as 'I have never noticed that before' or 'how beautiful that sequence was' or even 'thats interesting'.

I have done some judging and lecturing on AV, I have never and will never set myself up as an expert as clearly I am not. I usually try and introduce myself merely as someone who has some experience of AV production and if I can be of any help I will try and give as much information as I possibly can or advise where help can be sort.

I sometimes wonder if AV competitions could be judged by non AVers/Photographers just to see what the result would be because then it would truly be based on impact/interest retention etc with techniques, technical ability and rules probably not being understood and therefore not being taken into consideration.

Brianh

[davegee]

Just a point arising out of Peter's last post:

If, for instance, a 1024x768 show (Windowed Mode) appears in a viewing along with 1400x1050 shows (being viewed via a 1400x1050 projector) then surely the facility exists to OPTICALLY enlarge the 1024x768 show to the same physical dimensions of the 1400x1050 shows using the projector's zoom lens?

DG

[fh1805]

Dave,

If you've already got it racked right out in order to keep the equipment behind the audience as much as possible, then what you suggest just isn't possible!

regards,

Peter

[davegee]

OK Peter,

I agree, but these things don't happen without warning - forward planning?

DG

[fh1805]

Could, and perhaps should, be for festival and competition organisers. Not an issue for me showing my own sequences.

regards,

Peter

[davegee]

Exactly - it was they to whom I was refering.

DG

[Barry Beckham]

Brian

Absolutely right

[8321]

Welcome to the forum, Brianh.

Good common sense.

Jeff

[Peter Coles]

Having been involved in AV for many years (starting in slide tape days) and having been successful in some competitions I would like to add my take on AV competitions.

As others have indicated I also feel that it is what you produce thats important not necessarily how and with what. For example I have seen some good photography from a budget priced compact camera and I have seen some poor photography from very expensive equipment. I no longer belong to a photographic club but when I did it used to annoy me when the first question asked of your work was what camera do you use.

I appreciate that certain standards are required, ie sharp images (unless deliberate softness is required), correct exposure and image composition. We need good image manipulation software and in our case quality AV composition software, ie PTE. We need knowledge, which we gain from more experienced AV producers and this forum, but above all, including technicalities, we need the interest and love of our hobby to create something that not only we are pleased with but hopefully attracts other peoples attention. We can of course also try and push the boundries which appears to be frowned upon by some of the old school. Do it your own way and ENJOY it.

The most enjoyable things in my life, apart from my family, are photography and music. To bring these interests together and give my photography a purpose I compose AV sequences. Photography makes me see more of the world around me (good and bad) and music gives me various emotions.

I get as much, if not more, pleasure when I show my work to friends and acquaintances and get feed back such as 'I have never noticed that before' or 'how beautiful that sequence was' or even 'thats interesting'.

I have done some judging and lecturing on AV, I have never and will never set myself up as an expert as clearly I am not. I usually try and introduce myself merely as someone who has some experience of AV production and if I can be of any help I will try and give as much information as I possibly can or advise where help can be sort.

I sometimes wonder if AV competitions could be judged by non AVers/Photographers just to see what the result would be because then it would truly be based on impact/interest retention etc with techniques, technical ability and rules probably not being understood and therefore not being taken into consideration.

Brianh

On this last point, Brian (Harvey, I suspect!) , there have been a number of occasions when other "artists" have been invited to Judge our AV Events. I have selected a few on a number of occasions (sometimes to the annoyance of other AVers!) They do add a different perspective to the Judgement, but on the whole the results seem similar, That's not all that surprising when art matches art, but rarely does an audience vote match the Judges' vote completely.

I think the best line to take is that if we feel that for some reason the Judges and the rules don't fit what we would like, then we have a choice: to take part or to not take part.

On the whole I decide to take part. After all most of these Judges and Organisers have some expertise that I don't have - ............. thank God!

If I had decided not to take part then I would not have the 200+ International AV Awards I currently possess.

The skip would not be as full when my wife clears up after I've gone !!!!!

I'm not at all certain there is a shelf for AV Trophies in "The Kingdom" - and maybe not even one waiting there, in case we ever win the Wold Cup again!

[Barry Beckham]

Maureen

Here are the Experts,

This small section from what 8321 posted about the Hayange AV competition instantly tells you those who set the rules here, know what they are talking about.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

* The computer generated entries in our festival may be created by

using various types of software (eg. Pictures to Exe. Wings Platinum,

M-Objects, Flash, Pro-Show, Magic Lantern, etc.) in order to produce

an auto-executable file. The organisers will accept productions using

other software provided that a pre-supplied sample will prove that

they are able to read these files.

* We recommend formatting AVs with one of these resolutions:

1920X1080, 1600X1200, 1400x1050 or 1024x768 pixels. [To users of PTE,

we recommend using a maximum resolution. The projector will fit the

size if the author does not check the option "Fixed size of the view

(in pixels)" (see menu "Project / Project Options, Tab Screen ")],

* The maximum duration of each AV is limited to 12 minutes.

However, this festival also offers a special section for short

sequences not exceeding 90 seconds.

[cjdnzl]

My trusty calculator tells me that 1920*1080 images are 2,074KB, and 1024*768 images are 786KB, so the 1920*1080 images are 2.64 times larger. The GPU therefore has to work that much harder to display 1920*1080 images, which might be just a tad much for borderline GPU's to handle.

Has anybody found this to be a limiting factor with their GPU? Having recently acquired a 1920*1080 monitor, I will doubtless find out for myself in due course, as my AGP card is an Nvidia 6600GT, not the fastest card these days, but quite adequate for 1024*768 - but will it handle PZR at 1920*1080?

I shall post an answer when I have done some experimenting.

Colin

[Barry Beckham]

Colin

A quick look at the file size as displayed in PTE for my 1920*1200 images they average around 250k. I think you may be pleasently surprised at how your PC handles the slide shows, even with animation. A PC I have just retired handled all my shows fine and that was about 7 years old, sinle core chip, but I can't recall what the graphics card is, but probably on par or even less then yours.

Give it a try because a 1024*768 show on a large 1920*1080 monitor does look a little small these days, we have come a long way from those old 800*600 slide shows havn't we?

[cjdnzl]

Colin

A quick look at the file size as displayed in PTE for my 1920*1200 images they average around 250k. I think you may be pleasently surprised at how your PC handles the slide shows, even with animation. A PC I have just retired handled all my shows fine and that was about 7 years old, sinle core chip, but I can't recall what the graphics card is, but probably on par or even less then yours.

Give it a try because a 1024*768 show on a large 1920*1080 monitor does look a little small these days, we have come a long way from those old 800*600 slide shows havn't we?

Hello Barry,

Hmm, I wonder if you are looking at the jpg size file, which is about 1/10th the size of the unpacked image. A 1920*1080- pixel image is indeed over 2 MB in memory, and PTE has to shove that amount of data on the screen for you to see the picture. Not to sound in the least condescending, all compressed images, jpg, compressed tiff, etc, all expand back to their full size when loaded into memory, and PTE has to fetch from the executable and unpack each image before handing it to the GPU for display, whether using PZR or not.

I have been the president of our camera club for three years, and next month will see the AGM when I will retire from that position, and maybe I will have a bit more time to do some show-making

Regards,

Colin

[Barry Beckham]

Colin

I have been making larger slide shows for almost two years now and I admit my style of animation is a lot more subtle than some I see. Having said that all our PC's handle what I make fine, but you could check your PC and monitor easily, by trying one of my sequences.

Go HERE and you will find that Everlasting Home and Botanical Artistry both have animation, see how one or both of them perform on your current Computer/screen setup

[Peter Coles]

Colin

I have been making larger slide shows for almost two years now and I admit my style of animation is a lot more subtle than some I see. Having said that all our PC's handle what I make fine, but you could check your PC and monitor easily, by trying one of my sequences.

Go HERE and you will find that Everlasting Home and Botanical Artistry both have animation, see how one or both of them perform on your current Computer/screen setup

When I started this thread, I did not, for one moment, imagaine it would end up being this technical discussion. You know, I used to go to Camera Clubs where the discusssion was about such technical stuff, rather than about the nature of what was being produced (or in most cases not produced!),

My simple question received a simple and helpful reply for which I am eternally grateful. The rest may rest in peace, as far as I am concerned !

[Barry Beckham]

Peter

I am about as non technical as you will ever find in Photography and much of what you said about camera clubs I fully agree with, but this..No No No No

AV is all about presentation, image size and format is essential to that presentation. It is also very clear that this issue concerns people.

Anyway, this is the way of a forum and subjects often drift and become of interest to a wider audience, they peter out of their own accord when they are exhausted.

Relax

[Peter Coles]

Peter

I am about as non technical as you will ever find in Photography and much of what you said about camera clubs I fully agree with, but this..No No No No

AV is all about presentation, image size and format is essential to that presentation. It is also very clear that this issue concerns people.

Anyway, this is the way of a forum and subjects often drift and become of interest to a wider audience, they peter out of their own accord when they are exhausted.

Relax

For me, Barry, all these "technical things" are only of interest if they contributute towards better communication. Quite often I find that "technical improvements" actually detract from better communication. If some clever trick or effect makes me think "That was clever", this is an interuption in any train of thought the author may have been trying induce. Any distracton which moves my eyes from where the author may have intended them to be in the direction of this distraction removes a few "brownie points" in my judgement; it may even prevent me from reaching the natural end of such a Sequence.

Peter

[Barry Beckham]

;)Over the top of my simple head Peter sorry