PicturesToExe Deluxe 7.0.1 Beta

[Igor]

PicturesToExe Deluxe 7.0.1 BETA is available now.

Download:

http://www.wnsoft.com/files/test/picturestoexe-setup-701-beta.exe

List of changes:

+ "Keep full slide duration" option has been moved to the main window of PicturesToExe and it's disabled by default.

* Improved quality of video for iPad.

* Fixed bugs with slide duration.

* Fixed problem with the Objects and animation editor on some old Intel video cards.

* Fixed freezing of the Project option window with Korean language.

View | Advanced Options).

* Minor bug-fixes.

[davegee]

There appears to be a bug in PTE V7.0.1 whereby on opening the programme it looks OK and the "Keep Full Duration of Slide" tickbox is UNTICKED.

If you (without doing anything else) click on VIEW in the MENU the tickbox immediately becomes TICKED.

Closing PTE and restarting usually cures the problem and the next time it opens clicking on VIEW does nothing other than open the View Menu.

It then (in my case) operates the way that Igor describes.

One other person (Jill Kb has seen this behaviour (I'm seeing it on a Vista Laptop - Jill's on an XP M/C).

If you can add anything to this please add your experiences here?

Positive and negative replies welcomed.

Also, IGOR posted V7.0.1 in two posts - thinking that they were different Betas I installed both, with the second one overwriting the first.

The current Beta is here: http://www.picturest...dpost__p__89111

Please read the thread to the end - Jill appears to be getting additional problems that I am not seeing.

Thanks,

DG

[jkb]

Another, possibly related bug? is that pressing F6 to switch between slide & timeline view also ticks & unticks the 'Keep Full Slide Duration' box each time you press it.

Using the slide/Timeline buttons to switch does not change the status.

This & the View Menu bug happen on both my XP desktop & Vista Laptop.

XP I installed V7.0.1 as a seperate version.

Vista I installed it to overwrite V7.0

Jill

[davegee]

Lack of response could mean that Jill and I are the only ones seeing this?

Or is it that Jill and I are the only ones to have installed V7.0.1?

DG

[fh1805]

Dave,

I've placed a self-imposed embargo on PTE installs until AVG resolve the false virus alert that prevents the Publish of exe files. Maybe others are doing the same.

regards,

Peter

[davegee]

Peter,

I'm hoping that Igor is working on this V7.0.1 bug while AVG are working on theirs.

Just as AVG would sit up and take notice when more and more people declare problems I think the same goes for Igor.

You don't have to Publish to see this bug and V7.0.1 can be installed without overwriting V7.

Igor also wants feedback on his proposed new options which I am (at present) in favour) of.

He hasn't been around much lately.

DG

[westonphoto]

Dave: No, you're not the only two with v7.0.1 installed. I'm not seeing any of your problems with it running in W7 Ultimate 32 bit.

[davegee]

Thanks Phil,

I am seeing this on a Vista laptop - I think Jill is XP.

DG

[Antbrewer]

I am with Peter on this. I will wait until issues with AVG are resolved. I have XP and V 7 and very briefly a Trojan horse notification appeared whilst running through an established project file that was created with 6.5. I dumped it into the vault and touching wood with fingers and legs crossed nothing else seems to have happened.

However I will stay with 6.5 for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully the slide duration issues will be sorted too. I appreciate that Igor needs the responses to solve any problems but they do seem somewhat confusing to me.

Good luck to all and Igor.

Anthony

[nobeefstu]

Dave,

Lack of response could mean that Jill and I are the only ones seeing this?

Or is it that Jill and I are the only ones to have installed V7.0.1?

DG

My tests using XP SP3 of v7.0.1 have not shown the tick box behaviour while using the View menu or the F6 key. Ive tested creating New files and opening older version files.

So far ... initial tests are looking good.

[davegee]

Stu,

Please keep an eye on it?

It does not happen with me (VISTA) every time and when it does happen closing and restarting PTE cures it.

I have opened three or four times this morning and it has only happened once (with a NEW file).

DG

[davegee]

Changes in Slide Duration Version 7.0.1 Part 2

With “Keep Full Slide Duration” un-ticked:

Works as you would expect for a V6.5 project.

With “Keep Full Slide Duration” ticked:

If you add 6 new slides with e.g. 8 seconds duration and 2 seconds transition you will get:

Slide 1 transition = 2 sec

Slide 1 Duration = 8 sec

You must, however allow for the fact that Slide 2 Transition is also included in the Slide 1 Duration Time. If you want 2 sec transition followed by 6 sec time between transitions and the 2 sec transition of slide 2 must stipulate a duration of 10 seconds.

If you make changes to single or multiple slides in Customise Slide you get exactly what you ask for:

If you e.g. change the duration time and transition time for the first three slides to 12 seconds and three seconds respectively, that’s what you will get. Be aware though that in this example you will not have changed the transition time of slide four. Therefore slide three will be:

Incoming transition = 3 seconds.

Time between transitions = 7 seconds

Outgoing transition = 2 seconds

12 seconds as requested.

Moving slides:

In my example the last slide would still be 8 seconds duration including the incoming transition of 2 seconds (no outgoing transition).

If this slide is moved to become slide 2, it will maintain its 2 second transition time and its 8 second duration time.

However the 8 second duration will now include its incoming transition (2 seconds) and the transition time of slide 3 (3 seconds). Therefore the time between transitions for (the new) slide 2 will be 3 seconds.

2 seconds > 3 seconds > 3 seconds = 8 seconds.

This will also have an effect on the time between transitions for slide one which will become:

3 seconds > 7 seconds > 2 seconds = 12 seconds

The original Slide 5 will become slide 6 and will maintain its 8 seconds duration but have no outgoing transition time.

E & OE.

DG

Once again I would like to state that I am not necessarily endorsing the new Changes in Slide Duration - I am merely trying to explain what you should expect if you use it in conjunction with video.

[jkb]

I have tried this again and have had to open & close PTE several times before the faults occurred.

Once the problem arises then pressing F6 or the view menu both cause 'keep full..' to alternate between ticked & unticked.

Once this bug happens then other strange things happen also.

The first time I opened PTE with 'keep full..' unticked, the default timings were 5/2 & it all worked as v6.5 - no problems.

Ticking the box & the timings stayed at 5/2....I would have expected the default to change to 7?

However closing & restarting then the default is set to 7/2

Starting a new project & unticking the box the default remains at 7, but closing & reopening & it goes back to 5.

This is when other problems arise.

1. add 3 slides, doesn't seem to matter if 'keep full...' unticked or ticked.

2. look at the timeline (by using the buttons NOT F6) & note the starting points of the slides, in this case 0,5 & 10 secs.

3. Amend the effect time of slide 3 by clicking in the box above the slide & using the mouse wheel (or customise Slide) to increase the time to 2.5 secs.

4. look at the Timeline, the effect duration should have increased to 2.5 secs, BUT instead of adding the 1/2 sec at the end so it goes from 10secs to 12.5secs It has added it to the beginning!!! So the slide now starts at 9.5 secs.

5. Go back to slide view & increase the time by another 1/2 sec to 3.

6. Look at the Timeline again, the start time has now moved back to 10secs & the duration is 3secs as expected.

7. Repeat again, increasing the effect to 3.5 secs. Again the extra time is added at the front not the end & so the slide starts at 9.5secs.

8. Increasing the effect duration again to 4secs, the slide has now moved back to start at 8secs!!

It appears that each time the effect duration is changed it is not being added in the correct place. This is how I ended up with overlapping slides in my previous examples.

Once these problems start to happen it then seems to be using a mixture of v6.5 & v7.0.1 methods of timing & nothing works as expected.

What causes it to go wrong in the first place I do not know. As sometimes it initially seems to work as expected then suddenly changes & the problems occur.

Maybe if I just leave it with 'keep full...' unticked & do not change it things may work.

This happens on both my desktop XP & vista Laptop.

Personally I will always use the standard v6.5 timings as they are logical, make sense & work for all objects & video.

I am simply trying these situations to help sort out this bug.

Hopefully Igor will reply soon to let us know if he can replicate these problems.

Jill

[davegee]

Jill,

If you stay with one method or the other are you then finding that things work as you would expect?

DG

[jkb]

Dave, see my new post under the Bug report(not sure how to add a link to that!) so if can do so then please add it.

Trying to explain these new timings in words is so complicated.

I suggest if users want to understand then they try them out with a few slides & simple numbers.

But I also suggest that people stick with 6.5 until Igor has sorted out the problems that we have found.

Jill

[jkb]

Don't know as I am not actually working on anything at the moment.

But do have a new sequence to start very soon, so hope these issues can be sorted.

I am simply trying things out as I need to be able to demonstrate each option when I give talks.

[trailertrash]

Dear O Dear o Dear....when we get something simple.

[davegee]

Jill,

I think that you need to use one method or the other (in isolation) and not try to mix the two in the same show/talk.

I have been working with the V7 method of timings and find them to be completely logical BUT I haven't switched back and forth between the two methods - I can't concieve of a reason to do so.

DG

[davegee]

Jill,

I think that you have to at least consider that you have a corrupt installation?

I have followed your steps above on my Vista Laptop and I get what you were expecting to get.

In other words I'm not seeing what you are seeing - logically, I can't see any other possibility.

Would you consider uninstalling and re-installing?

DG

[jkb]

Jill,

I think that you have to at least consider that you have a corrupt installation?

I have followed your steps above on my Vista Laptop and I get what you were expecting to get.

In other words I'm not seeing what you are seeing - logically, I can't see any other possibility.

Would you consider uninstalling and re-installing?

DG

I have already tried re-installing, but didn't un-install first. Just let the new version overwrite the first.

I would agree that it may be a corrupt version, EXCEPT that the problems occur on both my desktop & laptop & were installed on different days.

The reason I need to switch between the two options is when I am giving a talk & need to demonstrate to people what the options do. I always do live demos as it is much easier for people to understand if they can actually see it happening.

When working on my own sequences I will always stick to the v6.5 timings & will use the Timeline view to amend effect times.

Jill

[davegee]

Jill,

Could it have been a corrupt download?

Both installations from the same corrupted download?

"The reason I need to switch between the two options is when I am giving a talk & need to demonstrate to people what the options do. I always do live demos as it is much easier for people to understand if they can actually see it happening".

I think that during a demo situation I would start a new project to demonstrate each of the two methods?

DG

P.S. I have now installed PTE V7 on my XP Desktop machine and while I am still getting the VIEW problem I am NOT getting the timing problems that you have described - I suppose that I have to consider that I too might have a corrupt download?

[jkb]

Could it have been a corrupt download?

Both installations from the same corrupted download?

I think that during a demo situation I would start a new project to demonstrate each of the two methods?

DG

As there is only one download link, I assume you have used the same download & as I have installed 3 times, once on desktop & twice on laptop, the chances of getting the same corruption each time are very slim.

Even closing & restarting PTE & starting new projects these problems occur on both machines. They are just unpredictable as to when they occur.

I have also tried on a different user on my laptop & they still occur. I have one user setup for giving talks, basic system, with internet & as much else as possible switched off. And a user that I use for normal purposes. Both have Administrator access.

Having been a Programmer & Systems tester in my working life I am used to following through problems & checking carefully what happens.

Jill

[davegee]

Jill,

See PM.

Actually there are two V7.0.1 download links - I downloaded the latest one.

DG

[aplman]

Dear Igor, may I please repeat my plea for the simplest possible scheme.

I want to specify and see the "pure slide duration", that is, the time between the end of the incoming transition and the start of the next transition. "Duration" should mean the time the viewer has an unterrupted view of the slide, and that applies whether it is a still image or a video clip.

I don't want the displayed duration on a slide to include any transition.

I don't want the slide duration to change when I change a transition time.

And as for video - this has not been discussed enough, in my opinion - I don't want the video movement (or sound) to begin until the incoming transition has finished. I think we at least need the option to specify whether the video action should begin at the START of the incoming transition (as now), or at the END of the incoming transition. I would ALWAYS opt for the latter. When I insert a video clip (usually between two still images), I want to see the whole video, without a transition overlapping it.

To me, it does not make sense that there is video movement during the incoming transition, but not during the outgoing transition. I think that's just an unfortunate by-product of the original design decision that "slide duration" would include one transition but not the other.

If "slide duration" had been defined in the first place as "exclusive of transitions", we would not have had a problem, and would not have had need of such an extraordinary amount of convoluted discussion! That's how I would like PTE to behave now. I believe it's how most slideshow programs work.

So, dear Igor, the simple option, PLEASE!

Ken T. (APLman)

[jkb]

Ken, you can easily have it so you can see the whole video without any overlapping transitions. Just specify an offset of the length of the slide, say 2secs which is the default & make sure that the slide duration is long enough for the video to play.

So for a 10sec video, if the effect duration is 2secs then make sure the slide duration is 12secs & give the video a 2sec offset (in the O&A window)

I agree with you, keep it simple!

If I am correct in remembering, the early versions of PTE did not include the effect in the slide duration. They were seperate as you are suggesting.

Jill