Barry Beckham Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 I find myself using PTE for my tutorial parts of my disks more and more these days, but I still get the odd mac user tell me the slide shows made for a Mac do not work. Not owning a Mac I cannot check this and I am thinking of supplying Mp4 videos on my disk rather than the PTE slide show for a MacCan Mac users just confirm that a PTE slide show converted to an Mp4 will play on any apple Mac computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lin Evans Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hi Barry, I don't believe that they will play on older MacIntosh units prior to the change from the Motorola to Intel processor - I no longer have one of the old systems to test this theory on, but I doubt that MP4 would necessarily be any safer than the Mac native executable. Hard to say without being tested....LinI find myself using PTE for my tutorial parts of my disks more and more these days, but I still get the odd mac user tell me the slide shows made for a Mac do not work. Not owning a Mac I cannot check this and I am thinking of supplying Mp4 videos on my disk rather than the PTE slide show for a MacCan Mac users just confirm that a PTE slide show converted to an Mp4 will play on any apple Mac computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossfade Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I find myself using PTE for my tutorial parts of my disks more and more these days, but I still get the odd mac user tell me the slide shows made for a Mac do not work. Not owning a Mac I cannot check this and I am thinking of supplying Mp4 videos on my disk rather than the PTE slide show for a MacCan Mac users just confirm that a PTE slide show converted to an Mp4 will play on any apple Mac computer?mp4 videos will play on any Mac, except older Macs might be too slow to keep up if its big, like an older PC. The executable shows need Intel Macs, but somtimes they crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Lin & CrossfadeThanks for the feedback. This could be a real pain in the backside.I pride myself on providing a faultless disk, but with Macs I have no way to test them. I thought we had the exe file for macs sorted now and I cannot tell if the issue is with PTE or the guys Mac who emailed me.He said that the slide shows are all really quite jumpy on his G4 Mac and I am trying to find out exactly what he means by that. These are PTE slide slide shows used as tutorials, they contain no animation, just standard simple shows made at 1920*1200. As you know, a PTE exe file for PC has no trouble with files like these, never has.He also reports that one of the tutorials is simply a white screen on his G4.The Mp4 files are coming up quite good. A 32 MB slide show does end up as an 82MB file as an Mp4, but that's not big when your working from a disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Cox Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Barrythe possibility exists that it could be his system - nobody else complaining along his line of complaint?Are there any MAC forum's where you could post demo shows and see how they play?ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Ken.Oh yes, I am well aware of that. For every 100 calls I get that a disk doesn't play right, 99% of the issues are on the PC they are being played on. File associations mainly. On the odd occasion you get a disk with a fault, but then they either play or the don't. I guess there are Mac forums, but there is too much on my DVD's to test in that way.In a way I posted to see if other Mac users came forward to confirm what the contact said. None have yet, which is what I expected. Not knowing anything about Macs whatsoever, I assume a G4 is a recent and powerful machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflow Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hi Barry,I just came across your problem concerning Macs and Pte-Presentations and in your case a DVD-Tutorial.If you're talking specifically about the PowerMac-G4 usually called "MacG4" this is an old Computerwith a 'bespoke' special Mac Processor available from 1999~2005. In service they turned out to be a bit of a "white-elephant" as Linux and other Mac-utilities were definitely NOT cross-platform compatible at that time nor since due to the 'bespoke' Processor.I encountered these G4-Macs way back in 1999~2001 when we thought of buying one for County-CouncilWaterworks data processing as in those days we sold Ultra-Sonic Flowmeters to our regional Councils.Below is a Data-Screenshot which you can pursue on Wiki/Answers should you require more information.I know its not much help with your problem, but at least you know where you stand !.FootNote: These G4's were comparable in speed to Dell Windows-98 with +350mB Processors and theCD-DVD Disc-system never worked right except with QuickTime and that was limited. Brian (Conflow) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossfade Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I pride myself on providing a faultless disk, but with Macs I have no way to test them.buy a low end used one. Are you really selling stuff you have not tested??I thought we had the exe file for macs sorted now and I cannot tell if the issue is with PTE or the guys Mac who emailed me.He said that the slide shows are all really quite jumpy on his G4 Mac and I am trying to find out exactly what he means by that. These are PTE slide slide shows used as tutorials, they contain no animation, just standard simple shows made at 1920*1200. As you know, a PTE exe file for PC has no trouble with files like these, never has.its a 1920*1200 mp4 movie? The last G4 was sold in 2006 or so, when Intel Macs came out, and that size movie is not going to play well on a 5 year old computer (maybe even older). How well does that mp4 play on a 5 year old PC? In a way I posted to see if other Mac users came forward to confirm what the contact said. None have yet, which is what I expected. Not knowing anything about Macs whatsoever, I assume a G4 is a recent and powerful machine.its not recent and my guess is not too many people still have Macs that old which is why nobody else has the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 BrianOn the contrary, that info was very useful, I did suggest to the person that they try another Mac if possible and expected to see another email this morning and I didn't get one. That often happens when a customer finds a solution or realizes the fault is there end rather than yours.CrossfadeAre you really selling stuff you have not tested??No, not really, every WMP video and PTE slide show is watched from end to end to checked for accuracy. The links to these videos and PTE exe files from the interactive menus are also checked. When I create a WMP video/ I also create a Quicktime video too. I check that the quicktime Video opens OK, but I don't watch the same video again and accept that it is identical to the WMP video. I do the same with the PTE slide show sections. If the Windows PC version works to my satisfaction and I often test them on an older machine running 1024*768, I create a mac pte filebuy a low end used one.No, I don't want to do that, there is still a cost and as Brian says, what do I do get a G4, or a later model. There are no interactive menus with my mac stuff, just a numbered list of files. I suppose I have been suckered in by all those pompous Mac users who delight in telling me, Macs just work. Well, that doesn't appear to be the case all the time. its a 1920*1200 mp4 movie?NO, I sort of expected that, so I made the Mp4 1024*640, that retains the 16:10 format and the quality is really rather good. One of the biggest I have so far is 115MB and that isn't big as a video by any standard. I am sure a Mac can play that OKits not recent and my guess is not too many people still have Macs that old which is why nobody else has the problem.That is what I was hoping, but if not I wasnted to be prepared with a solution. I would rather put the PTE slide shows on the disk, but the obvious way round that is to put both. That way if some ancient gas driven Mac cannot play the PTE file, hopefully they can play the Mp4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossfade Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Are you really selling stuff you have not tested??No, not really, every WMP video and PTE slide show is watched from end to end to checked for accuracy. The links to these videos and PTE exe files from the interactive menus are also checked. When I create a WMP video/ I also create a Quicktime video too. I check that the quicktime Video opens OK, but I don't watch the same video again and accept that it is identical to the WMP video. I do the same with the PTE slide show sections. If the Windows PC version works to my satisfaction and I often test them on an older machine running 1024*768, I create a mac pte fileWMV or QuickTime movies should play fine. The problem is PTE executables crash sometimes. If you dont have a Mac, how do you know the executable works?buy a low end used one.No, I don't want to do that, there is still a cost and as Brian says, what do I do get a G4, or a later model. There are no interactive menus with my mac stuff, just a numbered list of files. I suppose I have been suckered in by all those pompous Mac users who delight in telling me, Macs just work. Well, that doesn't appear to be the case all the time.dont get a G4. its more than 5 years old and not Intel and wont run any PTE shows. A used Intel Mac is not that much.its a 1920*1200 mp4 movie?NO, I sort of expected that, so I made the Mp4 1024*640, that retains the 16:10 format and the quality is really rather good. One of the biggest I have so far is 115MB and that isn't big as a video by any standard. I am sure a Mac can play that OKit can, but a 5 year old computer might stutter a little, mac or PC, even 1024x640, and especially if its more than 5 years old (the 1st G4 was over 10 years ago).its not recent and my guess is not too many people still have Macs that old which is why nobody else has the problem.That is what I was hoping, but if not I wasnted to be prepared with a solution. I would rather put the PTE slide shows on the disk, but the obvious way round that is to put both. That way if some ancient gas driven Mac cannot play the PTE file, hopefully they can play the Mp4.If theres space on the DVD, put it in different sizes, so gas driven PCs can play it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 CrossfadeAs I see it, there are the techno buffs who seem to know all there is to know about everything, but rarely produce any photography or slide shows worth looking at. I spend hours putting these disks together and they have been very well recieved for some years now. I stayed away from Macs, for the reasons stated and if I have to, I would rather pull the plug on the mac users and stay with the PC. The last thing I am going to do is spend any more hours than I already do to cope with one person in a hundred who might have a steam driven mac.All I wanted from my post was reassurance that what was reported was an isolated case.WMV or QuickTime movies should play fine. The problem is PTE executables crash sometimes. If you dont have a Mac, how do you know the executable works?Explain the logic to me where I spend more than I make to buy a Mac to make sure Mac users are happy, and do I buy two macs and old one and a new one.Get real for a minute please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContaxMan Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 You can't please everybody all the time Barry.Your stuff is great - content & value. If the Mac people can't use it (my wife's can!) then they could always buy a proper computer.Seriously though, do what you do best and don't worry that some people may never be satisfied - they could always shop elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruss444 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Hello Barry, As you may remember I am a Mac user (2009 model) Even though I haven't purchased any tutorial DVDs I have purchased some of your music which is great and very well priced. Thank You. Barry. I have watched many of your presentations online and they are absolutely fantastic and play perfectly. The most recent news from Igor though isn't too promising for we Mac users. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 BillThe most recent news from Igor though isn't too promising for we Mac usersWhich recent news are you referring to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Cox Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 BARRYRAT'S http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12862KEN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossfade Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 As I see it, there are the techno buffs who seem to know all there is to know about everything, but rarely produce any photography or slide shows worth looking at. I spend hours putting these disks together and they have been very well recieved for some years now.I've downloaded a couple of your shows and I can see you put a lot of work into them. Thats not the issue.I stayed away from Macs, for the reasons stated and if I have to, I would rather pull the plug on the mac users and stay with the PC. The last thing I am going to do is spend any more hours than I already do to cope with one person in a hundred who might have a steam driven mac.The problem isn't a steam driven mac playing big movies (it was gas driven in the last post, what happened?), its executables crashing or not playing properly on current Intel Macs. Didn't you have a problem a while back where the sound was garbled on a Mac (I think it was you)? Thats what Im talking about.All I wanted from my post was reassurance that what was reported was an isolated case.That particular case is, but it would be the same if he had an old PC too. How well do your shows run on a Pentium III? I have a Pentium IV computer collecting dust because its too old for Vista & Win7. Im sure if i tried playing a PTE show, it would be pretty bad.WMV or QuickTime movies should play fine. The problem is PTE executables crash sometimes. If you dont have a Mac, how do you know the executable works?Explain the logic to me where I spend more than I make to buy a Mac to make sure Mac users are happy, and do I buy two macs and old one and a new one.explain the logic to me where you offer a Mac executable, but you dont know if it plays properly or crashes. Do you test the shows on different versions of Windows? Ive downloaded a couple of mac shows that have crashed. They were free downloads so I didnt really care but if I paid for them, Id be pissed and wanting a refund.The most recent news from Igor though isn't too promising for we Mac usersWhich recent news are you referring tohttp://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12862Its 1-2 years away. I'm not surprised, its obvious they aren't spending much time on it. Run the current version in vmware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 KenI hadn't seen that particular post, but we knew it wasn't an easy job. I sort if expected a year at least. I think I questioned a while back whether the committment would be repaid in Mac sales, but Igor is the one to make that call. CrossfadeDidn't you have a problem a while back where the sound was garbled on a Mac (I think it was you)? Thats what Im talking about.That was an isolated thing with the Beta Mac version of PTE, which igor adressed pretty quickly. I think it was picked up on one of my shows, simply because I was pretty quick to start creating them for Mac use.its executables crashing or not playing properly on current Intel Macs. Well PC users will only know that if Mac users report these issues, but my knowledge at the moment tells me they seem to work fine. I have had a fair bit of feedback by Mac users saying how well the slide shows played. What has made the difference to me is that the slide shows I have included on my disks in the past were bonus extras really. They entertained, spread the PTE word and spread the word about my tutorials. If they failed on a Mac, I would not have a great concern, because its the videos the person has purchased and the quicktime videos are like WMV, they play fine.Now I am branching out more into how to use a Digital SLR and I find PTE shows make superb tutorials where Photoshop is not providing the visuals. The only solution is to include on the DVD a Mac exe, which will be 1920*1200 and if that fails, they will have a mp4 video at 1024*640 as a fall back.explain the logic to me where you offer a Mac executable, but you dont know if it plays properly or crashes. Do you test the shows on different versions of Windows? Not really no, because that isn't necessary for PC's. I have had years of experience with PC's for XP, Vista and W7 and thousands of disks are running on these systems and they are fine. I started off making Videos for Digital PhotoFX and then Digital Photo Magazine in the UK they have never been an issueIve downloaded a couple of mac shows that have crashed. They were free downloads so I didnt really care but if I paid for them, Id be pissed and wanting a refund.Well, why do you think I posted in the first place? To try an ascertain if this is a rogue Mac or I need to do something else for Mac users. If I can't find a solution, but the Mp4 seems to be a good one from where I am now, I may have to go back to what I have done in the past and create for PC only, but then the mac users whinge at me for not supplying mac users. What I am not going to do is spend $2000 dollars to earn $500Its 1-2 years away. I'm not surprised, its obvious they aren't spending much time on it. Run the current version in vmware.You will have Mac users foaming at the mouth for saying that I have already been lectured on this forum about how mac users don't wish to soil their precious Mac with those nasty PC programs. I think they just get a bit over protective and like to have a bit of a fume, it makes them feel supior. Funny really, because I think every Mac user I know runs a dual system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter S Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi Barry,It's a while since I bought any of you tutorials but I downloaded several slideshows during the earlier testing of the Mac viewer and also your "There is no such thing as the perfect exposure". Apart from the sound issue, which as you say, Igor resolved very quickly, I have had no problems playing any of them on my iMac.I have had fewer problems with my iMac than I ever had with my PC but they are NOT problem free and I have had a recent problem with Epson printer drivers on the Mac.You will, I am sure, remember the days of AVI tutorials on the discs issued with Digital Photo. I can even play them on my iMac using Quicktime.I don't think you will have many complaints just continuing to use the Mac Player.I would be happy to test the odd thing for you if there appears to be a specific problem with a particular feature.Kind regardsPeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 PeterThank you, that was the reassurance I was hoping for with this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossfade Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Well, why do you think I posted in the first place? To try an ascertain if this is a rogue Mac or I need to do something else for Mac users. If I can't find a solution, but the Mp4 seems to be a good one from where I am now, I may have to go back to what I have done in the past and create for PC only, but then the mac users whinge at me for not supplying mac users. What I am not going to do is spend $2000 dollars to earn $500Where did you come up with $2000?? the cheapest new mac is 899 au$ and you dont need a new mac for testing. a used one is more than fine, so it would probably be half that, maybe even less. You can use it as a spare Windows machine too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflow Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Barry and Igor,The real problem here is with the PTE-to-AVI for Video Builder and the converter to Mac Computers.Appreciating that Igor is suspending any further work on the Mac-Project may I suggest to Igor tomake a small alteration in the PTE-Program so that Pte can make available a WMV-File so this can be downloaded and converted to 'Flash' which is universal on all Computers.There is even a better solution which would be of great advantage to WnSoft in that a WMV-File can be directly converted to Mac by means of the program shown below. For those making Tutorials thiswould be very useful for both the maker and the Mac-User.Link:-http://www.wmvconverterformac.net/ScreenShot and PDF below.I hope this is of some help to everybody concerned.Brian (Conflow)Wmv-Mac Converter.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Beckham Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 CrossfadeThere is no way I am going to buy some tatty old second hand Mac that I would never have total confidence in.Secondly, I don't want to become like most people I see, so bogged down with technology the produce little photography worth viewing. I don't want a mac, even if I could get one cheaper than $2000. I already have enough computers around the house, I don't want a Mac thanks.TomIt's actually how most people are with computers. Your first word processor is always your favorite, no matter how ancient.It has nothing to do with that at all. I produce interactive tutorials for PC, that is how I got into this, I can't create those on a Mac, I can't run my CD/DVD menu software on a Mac. (Please don't tell me to run dual software) So I would always have to have a PC even if I switched over fully to Macs. It just ain't worth it, it has nothing to do with the Mac, I accept is probably a great tool for many people, but not me.BrianThat sounds like a good solution. I don't don't want to be buried under technology, it saps your energy and creativity, especially if that part of Photographys isn't your thing. Thanks for the solution, its something I could include on my DVD's for Mac users. Someone also told me a few years ago about ISquint.http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/applemac.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflow Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Barry,I do appreciate where you are coming from ~and~ "Not to get buried under Technology". We at Conflow Services alsohave the same problems and the same outlook as you. We make Slideshows for "Technical Reports" and presentationsto groups of Engineers who may be investigating Machine-failures or Water-Systems and also for Holiday-Promos andproduct-demo's and like you the proverbial Mac problem comes up again and again.Personally ~ I cant understand why WnSoft does not provide an AVI or WMV output because the vast majority of (new)SlideShow-Makers provide that utility in order to get around cross-platform difficulties such as Macs,Vista & Win7 etc. The way we get around this is very simple ~ we make a Slideshow and convert that to a WMV and then suggest to theMac-owner to download a converter which plays it on his Mac and some are quite happy with a Flash-conversion butin the latter case we recommend to use the "nFLV-Flash Player" which in our opinion is the best Flash-Player butothers may disagree, thats life!.You may like to try it,Link:- http://www.snapfiles.com/downloads/nFLVPlayer/dlnFLVPlayer.htmlBrian (Conflow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossfade Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 It's actually how most people are with computers. Your first word processor is always your favorite, no matter how ancient.Very true. People like what they're used to. They don't want to change. They get stuck in their ways, sometimes forever, even when something much better comes along. Too bad for them, because change is good. Whatever makes you happy is what you should use.Yep.The real problem here is with the PTE-to-AVI for Video Builder and the converter to Mac Computers. Appreciating that Igor is suspending any further work on the Mac-Project may I suggest to Igor to make a small alteration in the PTE-Program so that Pte can make available a WMV-File so this can be downloaded and converted to 'Flash' which is universal on all Computers. Flash isn't universal on all computers and offers no benefit over a normal movie file, but if you want Flash, why not suggest that PTE output it directly?There is even a better solution which would be of great advantage to WnSoft in that a WMV-File can be directly converted to Mac by means of the program shown below. For those making Tutorials this would be very useful for both the maker and the Mac-User.Macs can play WMV movies without needing to be converted. All it takes is installing a free plugin from Microsoft. They can play AVI too, usually without anything extra (depends on the avi).Someone also told me a few years ago about ISquint.http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/applemac.htmI guess they forgot to tell you its dead and has been for a while. You might want to update your page too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflow Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Crossfade wrote:Flash isn't universal on all computers and offers no benefit over a normal movie file, but if you want Flash, why not suggest that PTE output it directly?You surprise me as Flash is used by virtually every Commercial-vendor in the World such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, GE, General-Motors and so on.And you might like to know that Flash is used by many Forum-members for commercial purposes in presentations & promoting their Web-Sites.Concerning your remark about 'suggesting to Igor' that has already been done in my Post #24 above.You also wrote: Macs can play WMV movies without needing to be converted. All it takes is installing a free plugin from Microsoft. They can play AVI too, usually without anything extra (depends on the avi).Thats quite true but then you are not considering the "other guy" ~ in particular the vast majority of Pte-users who wouldn't know where to get the'plug-in' and if they had it they wouldn't know how to install it nor where. Unlike yourself I had already considered that and its the reason why Isuggested the (bespoke) WMV-to-Mac Converter but that in itself would need a compatible AVI-WMV utility created in Pte in the 1st instance.The whole contextural essence of my original Post was to bring to Igors attention the fact ~ "Other Slideshow-vendors offer an Avi or Wmv utilityand Pte does not" ~ (except for a "Ghost-Avi" generated for Video-Builder solely). To my way of thinking this omission really limits the adaptibilityof the Pte-Program for usage in many other Video-formats and Op-Systems particularily those used in Websites and Album-Portfolios etc; ~ And that is a vast Market well suited to PTE's excellent quality.Brian (Conflow) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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