"Um dia... em Agosto" / "One day... in August"

[snapcam]

I'm sorry Jose, but there is not response to clicking the link.

[orizaba]

I'm sorry Jose, but there is not response to clicking the link.

Please, try this (it's the same, anyhow, for Windows, and it is really working for me, I can download)

http://www.mediafire.com/?if1hb8cw2w3wrw7

[orizaba]

Please, try this (it's the same, anyhow, for Windows, and it is really working for me, I can download)

http://www.mediafire.com/?if1hb8cw2w3wrw7

In case you didn't download file yet, please contact MediaFire-PRO Support as they can help troubleshooting your problem.

So they said upon my claim (see below):

Hi,

I tested these files and I was able to download both successfully. If your users are having difficult accessing them please have them contact us, as we will be able to troubleshoot their problems more quickly if we can communicate with them directly.

Best regards,

Charlie

The MediaFire Team

[snapcam]

In case you didn't download file yet, please contact MediaFire-PRO Support as they can help troubleshooting your problem.

So they said upon my claim (see below):

Hi,

I tested these files and I was able to download both successfully. If your users are having difficult accessing them please have them contact us, as we will be able to troubleshoot their problems more quickly if we can communicate with them directly.

Best regards,

Charlie

The MediaFire Team

[snapcam]

Hello again Jose,

Well, your file is downloading as I type. The new link was recognised no problem.

I notice that MediaFire is seperated on the new link by.... the other link is continuous with /?

between Mediafire and link.

[snapcam]

Back again Jose,this time having viewed your sequence.

Firstly, I move in traditional A.V. circles and came to view your show with certain preconceptions.

A, Don't include a frame in your show.( Distracts the viewer)

B, Absolute maximum time 12 minutes. (bores the audience)

C, Animations kept to a minimum. (must have a purpose)

I have now watched your show start to finish and didn't even notice the time passing, having initially looked at the frame I

don't think I saw it for the rest of the time,and I was fascinated by the animation techniques you used.

SO MUCH FOR POINTS A,B,C,!.

However in most A.V. competitions and festivals the rules limit shows to a max 12mins and frames are frowned upon. I suspect this show

was never intended for that medium anyway.

I so enjoyed the music and the photography was beautiful. I would like to have understood the Portugese script as it would have added to my understanding

of the progress.

The only negatives for me were that perhaps we were moving around a little too much with so many zoom shots. Perhaps a little longer to enjoy the image.

The section showing the old pics of your youth was too long for outsiders, while these will have meaning for yourself to a stranger the same point can be

made with fewer images. But that is just nit picking.

Overall a very enjoyable presentation which I suspect owes a lot to a movie background and as has been pointed out to me before aren't all A.V. workers

'frustrated movie makers'. I see in this show pointers to were A.V. is going in the future. See Igor's clip with VIDEO insert.

It was worth the wait Jose.

[orizaba]

Back again Jose,this time having viewed your sequence.

The section showing the old pics of your youth was too long for outsiders, while these will have meaning for yourself to a stranger the same point can be made with fewer images.

"Snapcam", your are 200% right! And this clearly shows that you have an excellent and detailed idea about "pace" and "sequence time-proportions" which must be respected in a VisualShow.

I would even say more: it's not only a point for "outsiders".

In fact, no VisualShow should sacrifice "quality" in favour of "family affairs". And I myself am the first to see that this sequence is too long, mainly in relation to next sequences till the end of the project. Should I have increased the duration of the show with some 2 or 3 more sequences after the existing ones, I believe that overall "time proportions" would be more correct and not only outsiders but also myself would better accept this so long "family clip".

Now, an explanation (not a justification, there is no possible justification!):

1. I had no more photos to show (for these 2 or 3 extra sequences which I would need to insert).

2. No way of reducing the music time of this "familiy sequence" making it shorter... (well, frankly, may be it was possible, fading it out till a sudden cut in TUA station... May be. On the other hand, doing this, how would I finish my "sepia pictures/thoughts"? Because, as it is, I "waked up from my memories" only when train stoped and music really ended, and this makes more sense to me).

So, thanks for your time and right comments!

What about more SlideShows from yourself? I couldn't find any.

This Felix affair was already seen by my grand sons and they were glued to the monitor and loudspeakers! Quite a good show indeed!

Would you want to give me your private email address? I would like to "speak" with you on this, in private.

Best regards,

Jose

[snapcam]

Jose,

Have a look at The eleventh hour on forum list page 2

and A light dusting of snow on page 5.

You can contact me via the messages

[orizaba]

Just brilliant, blending of old and new images, great sound track and music.

Is it to long, not for me.

Rick

Hi Rick,

Sorry for my delay to thank for your lines, which touched me a big lot! That starting "Just brilliant" is something I really enjoyed! Who wouldn't?

Best regards,

Jose

PS: Would you care to add something more concerning that polemic point "static vs moving images" in PTE projects? It is really a point which I think should be more discussed... so I think, anyway.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Jose,

First let me say that I don't believe I have ever enjoyed a slideshow more than this one! You have done an exemplary job in every respect.

From an artistic perspective, I wouldn't change a thing - it's perfect the way it is.

From a technical perspective, you might consider using the "mip mapping" (anti-shimmer) on some of the sharper images for zoom to minimize the "shimmer." and perhaps turn off the mouse cursor for the entire show so that users who accidentally move the mouse don't see the cursor appear during the production.

Congratulations on an incredibly good job!

Best regards,

Lin

[nelson]

I can`t imagine the amount of work that you have put into this masterpiece, brilliant in every respect.

Kieron

[orizaba]

I can`t imagine the amount of work that you have put into this masterpiece, brilliant in every respect.

Kieron

Hi Kieron,

I've put... 5 months!

However, not "work", only pure pleasure instead!

You know, this PTE affair is really pure enjoyement for me, and each time I finish a project I become a little bit lost, like missing something, despite I feel that I will never again undertake a "so complex and difficult project" as the one I just finished. However, here I go again, next week, with another one, probably "even more complex" than before.

Till now, 8 months was the maximum I dedicated to a sole project, some kind of a "family project", 27 minutes, which in my own opinion is very good, full of "action" and unusual picture-in-picture "invented" solutions, more than 400 slides, since 1947 to 1997, 50 years of a family story!

I'm glad you enjoyed this "masterpiece, brilliant in every respect"!!! Please, not so "masterpiece", only better, or different, from what is available in this forum.

In fact, I should like to watch "better" shows from our PTE fellows.

No reason to use so limited resources of a so good software like PTE.

No reason to use so little "imagination" when building a project.

No reason not to "work" the soundtrack a little more.

After all, no reason not to try to captivate PTE fellows' interest, which is not the samething as showing some photos on a laptop to some family member sitting next, while explaning how funny were those hollidays...

Thanks for your comments, Kieron, and best regards,

Jose

[orizaba]

Hi Jose,

First let me say that I don't believe I have ever enjoyed a slideshow more than this one! You have done an exemplary job in every respect.

From an artistic perspective, I wouldn't change a thing - it's perfect the way it is.

From a technical perspective, you might consider using the "mip mapping" (anti-shimmer) on some of the sharper images for zoom to minimize the "shimmer." and perhaps turn off the mouse cursor for the entire show so that users who accidentally move the mouse don't see the cursor appear during the production.

Congratulations on an incredibly good job!

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin,

I must say that such "strong" comments, coming from you, make me feel even happier! No doubt!

Although... I think that they are too much strong!

Is it true? Is this the one and most enjoyable? Not possible...

Now, speaking seriously, that "shimmering" is really a problem!

I can let you know that I did used the "anti-shimmer" all over the project in almost every moving image.

Result? Zero!

I have the notion that such anti-shimmer reduces picture sharpness (and when I apply I can note such loss), and this should be a good reason to reduce the shimmer, but result is not noticed.

I think I read somewhere that it is only effective when applied on original size images, not on resized images (which is my case). This may be the explanation for such useless option.

In fact, not considering the "old" photos, all my original photos were 4:3 (2592x1944) and I made my PTE project at 1920x1080 (16:9).

Of course, I had to reframe the images and so I always had to zoom/resize.

It's really a problem, but I can not imagine how it can be overpassed.

By the way: do you know any method to "smooth" razor-cut edges?

You certainly noticed in several "double or triple images" (train passing by the windows, electricity post passing by, etc.) where I used "home-made" masks, that such masks' edges are really razor-cut, which is not natural and not nice.

It should exist a "method" to create a "black and white dégradé" all around the mask's edges in order to avoid such razor-cut aspect.

I made several tests with my ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5.0 (not bad at all...) but I couldn't get any result at all.

Thanks very much for your lines, and my best regards,

Jose

PS: Sorry for that mouse cursor, it's really my fault, I forgot that. May be I will replace the exe file at MediaFire, I don't know if it is worthwhile.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Jose,

Absolutely - this was the most enjoyable slide show I've seen.... Sorry the anti-shimmer didn't help - sometimes when images are very sharp, it doesn't seem to help too much. It's not a huge thing - in fact if the show is made into an MP4 the shimmer may not be all that noticeable. I doubt that whether your images have been resized or not has any real bearing on the effect of mip-mapping or anti-shimmer.

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the operation of PhotoStudio, but in Photoshop the "selection" tools have a feature which you can use called "feathering." Feathering softens the edges of any selection and makes the transition much less abrupt. If you are able to use the built-in masks in PTE, they have feathering adjustable by menu. However, only rectangular or circular type masks are available in PTE so when you are making custom masks, you definitely need a tool which allows feathering.

Probably it's not worth reloading the large file just for the cursor, but for your own and future use it would probably be worthwhile to turn it off and recompile the exe fiile.

Best regards, and congratulations on a wonderful presentation!

Lin

Hi Lin,

I must say that such "strong" comments, coming from you, make me feel even happier! No doubt!

Although... I think that they are too much strong!

Is it true? Is this the one and most enjoyable? Not possible...

Now, speaking seriously, that "shimmering" is really a problem!

I can let you know that I did used the "anti-shimmer" all over the project in almost every moving image.

Result? Zero!

I have the notion that such anti-shimmer reduces picture sharpness (and when I apply I can note such loss), and this should be a good reason to reduce the shimmer, but result is not noticed.

I think I read somewhere that it is only effective when applied on original size images, not on resized images (which is my case). This may be the explanation for such useless option.

In fact, not considering the "old" photos, all my original photos were 4:3 (2592x1944) and I made my PTE project at 1920x1080 (16:9).

Of course, I had to reframe the images and so I always had to zoom/resize.

It's really a problem, but I can not imagine how it can be overpassed.

By the way: do you know any method to "smooth" razor-cut edges?

You certainly noticed in several "double or triple images" (train passing by the windows, electricity post passing by, etc.) where I used "home-made" masks, that such masks' edges are really razor-cut, which is not natural and not nice.

It should exist a "method" to create a "black and white dégradé" all around the mask's edges in order to avoid such razor-cut aspect.

I made several tests with my ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5.0 (not bad at all...) but I couldn't get any result at all.

Thanks very much for your lines, and my best regards,

Jose

PS: Sorry for that mouse cursor, it's really my fault, I forgot that. May be I will replace the exe file at MediaFire, I don't know if it is worthwhile.

[orizaba]

Dear PTE Fellows,

I must say that I will use this topic (of mine...!?) because I noticed that a lot of members are following it quite daily.

It's a question of audience and I will profit it, sorry.

I will use this topic to call your attention for... another topic, nothing more.

I just made a post in "Video output" section, "HELP: Best video file out of PTE project", which is as follows:

(That's it. Regards, Jose)

Hello everybody,

Did you already noticed that this topic is one of the most viewed?

Started last 17 January, in only 3 weeks there are more than 1700 views on it!

Amazing!

We can conclude that our PTE fellows were really needing some help on this subject, and I think they got it.

Good!

Can you remember who gave such enormous help to all of us?

Mainly, Frank and Ray.

Ok.

Sometime ago, one of our PTE fellows became very angry, I would say, very, very angry, because I noticed that there are Forum Sections to which nobody pays due attention.

What did I say...!

Well, here I go again (and it's no use at all to become angry again...!)

Last 16 July 2010 (by the way, of this XXI century...) our Ray, yes, our same Ray who helped us all, posted a message under "Slideshows created with Pictures To Exe", which is:

Many of you already know that I've been using PTE for quite some time now to create a feature-length documentary, Peoples of the World: Southeast Asia.

I'm pleased to announce that it has been released. Further details and a link to the preview are available on our web site.

I believe this is an important milestone for PTE, being probably the first feature-length film made using it - certainly the first one to be made generally available.

I also hope my friends on this forum will support the important cause for which it was made - the education of indigenous people.

Ray

Do you know how many replies? I mean, PTE replies, because I can admit (thanks God...) that some of you may have replied directly to Ray's Foundation.

PTE replies: ZERO !!!

Beautiful!

Ok, the message is passed.

After all, is it so problematic to support Ray's Foundation for the education of indigenous people?

Of course, this could mean to interrupt our great PTE projects for some 5 minutes and prejudice could be enormous, however, how many minutes, hours or days did Ray used to help us?

Come on, let's be generous for a while, and mainly let's be solidary to one of our PTE Forum fellow members.

As he posted

I also hope my friends on this forum will support the important cause for which it was made - the education of indigenous people.

Was I clear enough?

ZERO replies... This is really a "shame" (not my border in my project...)

Best regards,

Jose

PS: Ray's Foundation link can be found here http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12094&view=findpost&p=77844

[thedom]

I really enjoyed your slideshow, this is a true artistic creation.

There are research and work.

The different effects are really about the subject. There is a perfect coherence between the effects and what you see.

About the story, I really had the feeling to travel through space and time.

The sound effects and the music match perfectly the purpose.

Even if it lasts almost 20 minutes, it's not boring at all.

In my opinion, it has the quality of a professional documentary.

Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

[orizaba]

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the operation of PhotoStudio, but in Photoshop the "selection" tools have a feature which you can use called "feathering". Feathering softens the edges of any selection and makes the transition much less abrupt. If you are able to use the built-in masks in PTE, they have feathering adjustable by menu. However, only rectangular or circular type masks are available in PTE so when you are making custom masks, you definitely need a tool which allows feathering.

Hi Lin,

Can you let me know if such feature called "feathering" is something included under "Selection and mask refinement tools", which such tools are NEW in PhotoShop CS5, and are not available in CS4 or CS3?

I just saw PhotoShop site and all products are too much expensive! I wonder if such "feathering" could be available in some cheaper PhotoShop version, can you inform?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Jose

[Guest Yachtsman1]

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 which features feathering.

Yachtsman1.

[orizaba]

I really enjoyed your slideshow, this is a true artistic creation.

There are research and work.

The different effects are really about the subject. There is a perfect coherence between the effects and what you see.

About the story, I really had the feeling to travel through space and time.

The sound effects and the music match perfectly the purpose.

Even if it lasts almost 20 minutes, it's not boring at all.

In my opinion, it has the quality of a professional documentary.

Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

Hello,

One more comment like this one of yours... and I think I will explode!

Thanks for taking your time with such a detailed and nice report, having in mind that you, "thedom", are really a professional in this PTE world, so I think.

You know, I never thought that this "One day... in August" would cause such an impact among my PTE fellows.

Well, in fact, I had the idea that it is different from the usual, but I was even "affraid" of people's reactions, mainly from those "photo purists" for whom each photo is some kind of Gioconda which "must" be contemplated "as it is", for some half an hour, even without its golden frame... (attention, Louvre, think about it!)

May be they are right, with only a big difference: here we are in the slideshow world (not in a museum), it's an AV production (not a museum's catalogue) and "rules" are obviously not the same, don't you agree?

Some fellow commented "... a presentation which I suspect owes a lot to a movie background..."

He is right, but aren't movies the top of AV?

Why "must" a slideshow be static, only because it is not 24 fps?

Another fellow wrote "... I see in this show pointers to where slideshow is going in the future..."

I think he is right too, I would wish such future comes fast!

Best regards,

Jose

[orizaba]

Greetings!

Just to say that a kind of "trailer" was now uploaded (including that very sad fly's death...)

Trailers really use to come first, and I'm sorry it's not the case this time.

Anyhow, it's just for fun...!

Regards,

Jose

[Lmoreels]

The link for downloading is not working.

can it be reactivated?

Thanks

Luc M

[orizaba]

The link for downloading is not working.

can it be reactivated?

Thanks

Luc M

Hi Luc,

Please, try now.

Links have never been desactivated, but sometimes there are problems with MediaFire, I think.

I hope you can enjoy the show and I wait for your comments.

Regards,

Jose

[wideangle]

Obviously a great deal of effort has gone into this show, and it was well worth it - a superb effort!

Some people say that animation should only be used in moderation, but I thought that this was some of the best and most effective animation that I have seen in P2E. It was excellent.

Thank you.

Regards,

wideangle

[orizaba]

Obviously a great deal of effort has gone into this show, and it was well worth it - a superb effort!

Some people say that animation should only be used in moderation, but I thought that this was some of the best and most effective animation that I have seen in P2E. It was excellent.

Thank you.

Regards,

wideangle

Hello "Wideangle",

First of all, thanks so much for your comments.

I'm glad you enjoyed the show and appreciated the so-called animations.

I agree 100% with the idea that animation must be used with moderation, that's for sure, and I would add that must be used with a purpose...

Discussion on which purpose... that's what would lead us very far!

I would say instead, that I can not find any purpose at all "deciding" that "zero animation" is the "ideal" and generally accepted solution.

This subject has already been discussed before and I think it will take its time to start watching some more dynamic slideshows.

As I already asked before, what is Igor working for? What for so many (and excellent) PTE options?

I'm affraid that coming version 7 (with video) will bring some other "kind of animations" to PTE slideshows... Let us hope not!

Still concerning "my animations" I would profit to let know that a big "kind of problem" is present on all situations where an object "pass through" another object, like the train passing by the windows of the other train.

It was "Davy C" who noticed it the same day the project was uploaded, and was kind enough to let me know.

Well, it's "only" a kind of problem because I detected it and tried by all means to correct it, but I had no more instruments available in my Picture software (ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5.0).

One of these days I asked Lin for help and, as expected, he gave me the solution.

It's all about this kind of animations which involve "home-made masks", and the problem is their razor-cut edges which turn the final image not nice, I would say, artificial, not natural.

My software has nothing to change this, I mean, to create a "black and white dégradé" on the edges of the mask.

Lin suggested Photoshop, and I installed "Elements 9 Trial".

Done!

By means of "Select Feather", it's possible to create such dégradé, the size we want, all over the edges, and result is amazing!

By the way... I already corrected all my project (10 masks), and I'm glad I've done it.

In case other members decide to create such type of "home-made masks", I think this suggestion is worthwhile.

I even attached 7 images showing all the process, including a zoomed detail of such "feathering", in this case it is the upper left corner of the central window, and feathering used is 3%.

(Difference between 5 and 6 is... no people talking to a "moving" train!)

Sorry to use "your post" to deal with this technical problem.

Thanks again and my best regards,

Jose