Flash Me Now !!!

[boxig]

Hi all,

First I want to thank Marco for his excellent Demo which every PTE member should see.

Till I saw his demo I never realized what amazing effect you can create by adding

this small utility to your PTE show.

The name of the utility is "FlashMe" and you can download it from my site under

"Utilities for PicturesToExe".

The zip includes a three pages Help file named "FlashMeReadme.exe" which you should

read before using the utility.

Just a moment...don't go away, although the Help is very long, it is very easy to

use "FlashMe". This is due to a "Configuration Tool" where you go through 10 simple

steps, and the tool will create your configuration file, which will instruct "FlashMe"

how to display your Flash on your slides. The tool is called "FlashMeConfigure.exe"

and many thanks to AL for his great help in refining this tool.

After unzip the file, you can run "FlashMe.exe" and it will run a small flash file.

For advanced users, you can edit the configuration file (Flash.txt) with Notepad if

you don't want to use the "Configuration Tool".

And last word:

This utility is great for adding some text effect to boring still titles and which

are very easy to create and integrate with the show. However, more complicated image

effects require more knowledge in flash creating.

I worked many days and nights to make this utility and I hope to get some feedback

from you.

Enjoy

Granot

[alrobin]

Hi, Granot,

You've done a great job on this utility - I already have some applications in mind. And the utility works well and is easy to use.

My involvement in this was very minimal, so all the credit goes to you and Marco (also for his great demo). My suggestions were mainly cosmetic, or to make the instructions easier to follow.

I don't know how many PTE users use Flash or Swish, but maybe some enterprising types will pick up the cue and start designing some generic Flash intro files or animated effects to go with member PTE shows. Granot: maybe this is another thread for your multi-program web site??

[Bubba]

Boxig,

Thank you very much for all the work you have been doing on various utilities. I'm pretty excited about making flash start animations. I made a nice flash intro (simple text effects). My problem is with getting it to work in full screen on a P2E slideshow.

I got your flash.exe to work. I'd like to have the black background though. I couldn't get the 'flashfullscreen' utility to work. It opens your start window but doesn't show my flash file, just the "Page cannot be displayed" internet explorer message. When I click on the start button it opens my PTE slideshow normally.

By the way, I made the configuration file with your 'Flashme' utility and this works great. But I wasn't sure how to proceed so I'm using your "FlashIntroUtility".

Any ideas on how to get it to work full screen (black on perimeter of screen) would be greatly appreciated.

[Marcovelo]

Hi Bubba,

Until Granot answers you, please check if you have the file "Flash.html" in your folder where you test FlashFullScreen.

("Page cannot be displayed" internet explorer message is displayed when "Flash.html" is missing).

On my computer, FlashFullScreen works fine, like you expect.

I made the configuration file with your 'Flashme' utility and this works great. But I wasn't sure how to proceed

Can you describe what was your hesitations ?

Just call the utility "FlashMe.exe" from your first slide of your show (option "Run external application" in Customized slide dialog box).

I also suggest you to use FlashMe utility for your intro, because you can control accurately your animation: duration, number of loops, position...

With FlashMe, the Flash dimension is not limited to 660x380.

Marco

[Bubba]

Marchovelo,

Thank you for your help! I got it to work correctly now. I incorrectly named the html file "flashFullScreen" instead of just "flash."

Now I wonder if there is an easy way to change the "start" button the utility produces. Ideally I would like the "start the show" button to appear at the end of the flash intro movie. I'd also like to customize the start button so it looks different.

Thanks again, Bubba

[boxig]

Hi Bubba,

Sorry I missed your post. Marco is much more experienced in configuring and using "FlashMe". It is better to use "FlashMe" than my old flash utilities since you have more control how it looks and acts. Anyway, tell me what exactly you want to do and which utility to use.

Granot

[Marcovelo]

Hi Bubba,

I agree with Granot, it's better to use FlashMe to do what you want (full control on button).

Ideally I would like the "start the show" button to appear at the end of the flash intro movie.

I'd also like to customize the start button so it looks different.

You can easily accheive this using FlashMe:

1) create Show 1 for your intro:

- Slide 1 launch your Flash animation (option "Run external application" in Customized slide dialog box). Duration of slide = duration of your movie.

- Slide 2 displays a PTE button (object editor), and this can be a "customized button". Action for this button will be "Run application and exit" and must run "Show 2"

2) Show 2 is your "real" show, and it can be a synchronized show.

Other way to do this is to create your "start" button directly in your Flash animation (can be a customized and even animated button !), that will start your PTE show.

And finally, you can also decide to not have a "start button" at all, and to chain up your Flash intro and your PTE show.

Marco

[Bubba]

Marcovelo & Boxig,

Thank you very much. I got it! This really adds some easy special effects.

Bubba

[Marcovelo]

Bubba,

I'm glad you achieved it.

May be we will see soon your production on Beechbrook Cottage ?

Regarding Flash special effects in PTE show, you can download and test my demo at: Flash PTE demo

Have fun !

Marco