Fade from Desktop

[AVMaestroFRPS]

One of the most professional looking features of a PTE presentation used to be the ability to have a gentle fade down from the desktop to the first (BLANK) slide. And at the end of the last (BLANK) slide in the sequence, it was possible to specify a similar gentle fade back to the desktop. This gave a very professional looking feel to the whole show, and is the reason why some of us stick to version 4.48.

This feature disappeared for some reason from version 5 onwards, to be replaced by a FLICKER CRASH BANG WALLOP effect at the start of every sequence, which is most unpleasant.

I really feel this should be a priority for the developers to get right in the next update.

[TonyFalla]

I'll second that I always thought that the fade at the end gave a nice finish to the sequence and have never really like the abrupt closing we get with the later versions.

Tony

[davegee]

whilst i agree with the op there are very professional ways of holding the last slide of a show on screen until you are ready to move on to the next.

if you have fully explored these and they dont meet your requirements then i would back you..

personally seeing someones messy desktop berween shows is definitely not for me.

dg

[fh1805]

My understanding as to why we lost the fade from desktop is that it is all down to Windows. From Vista onwards, the "Aero" style user interface takes dedicated control of the graphics card. If you want to have full-screen "window-less" display of your slideshow, PTE has to take dedicated control of the graphics card. There is no facility to do this via a PTE-controlled fade out of the desktop image.

But I have to agree with DaveG, why would you want to show your desktop between sequences when you can quickly build a menu from which to launch your sequences. That's how I do it. I get the hardware connected and powered up. I run a "Check AV Setup" sequence to confirm that the picture is filling the available screen area, is in proper focus and that the sound system is playing at an appropriate volume level. Finally I launch the menu sequence (a manually controlled AV) and leave the black slide on screen. Having shown all the sequences to the audience, I leave the menu on-screen until I power down the projector.

regards,

Peter

[AVMaestroFRPS]

OK, forget the reference to "desktop" and substitute "menu".

Like Peter, I always make a front page menu from which to start every sequence, and at the end of each one it returns to the menu. And yes, you can shut down the computer after you have powered down the projector so the audience never sees the desktop.

But you still get the horrible flicker and abrupt lurch into the first slide.

[fh1805]

I'm not sure that your "menu" and mine are the same. Are you using "Run Slideshow With Return" to trigger the sequences from the menu? Do you start each sequence with a Black slide? If you do, what transition is set for this black slide?

regards,

Peter

[AVMaestroFRPS]

My Menu is a PTE project saved as an executable file, consisting of a single slide, to which I add the required number of buttons for each sequence to be triggered. Each button is given the properties under "Action on mouse click" of "Run application or open file" where the path to the relevant exe file is inserted. At the end of each sequence it returns to the Menu. I do it in 4.48 of course, because I like the gradual fade down to the first (BLANK) slide, and the gentle fade back to the menu from the last (BLANK) slide. The transition depends on the mood I wish to create, fast or slow, but typically I use 2-5 seconds to fade down to Black. In the sound track I insert an appropriate length of silence before the music starts.

I think you can do this in versions 6 and 7 under "Objects and Animations" but only with the abrupt flicker problem described.

Regards,

Malc

[fh1805]

The flicker is a direct consequence of the Windows graphics card point I made in post #4. The "Run Slideshow with Return" feature was introduced by Igor into, I think, v5 as a means of eliminating the problem. The only downside is that all the EXE files of the sequences (menu and those driven from it) have to have been "Created" using the exact same version of PTE. Since I keep all the files for all my sequences, I find this no great hardship. I simply build the customized menu for that audience and create its EXE file; then open the project file for each of the chosen sequences and do a Publish EXE in v7.0.1 (Create EXE as it was in versions up to 6.5), ensuring that all the EXE files get saved into the same folder as the menu EXE.

I'm not suggesting you change your approach, but you might care to investigate this alternative method to see if it resolves the flicker issue for you.

regards,

Peter

[nobeefstu]

Long ago info on the topic:

Theres more ... you need to search for them.

[jkb]

The flicker is a direct consequence of the Windows graphics card point I made in post #4. The "Run Slideshow with Return" feature was introduced by Igor into, I think, v5 as a means of eliminating the problem. The only downside is that all the EXE files of the sequences (menu and those driven from it) have to have been "Created" using the exact same version of PTE. Since I keep all the files for all my sequences, I find this no great hardship. I simply build the customized menu for that audience and create its EXE file; then open the project file for each of the chosen sequences and do a Publish EXE in v7.0.1 (Create EXE as it was in versions up to 6.5), ensuring that all the EXE files get saved into the same folder as the menu EXE.

I'm not suggesting you change your approach, but you might care to investigate this alternative method to see if it resolves the flicker issue for you.

regards,

Peter

Peter, I agree & this works fine if you are only playing your own sequences & have the time to remake them all & ensure that they all play exactly as they did!

However think of the situations such as Competitions or public events where you are playing sequences created by many different people. It is not possible to recreate all of them.

I too miss the fade in/out that we used to get in v4.

The other option which I use, is that for your Menu, untick the 'use hardware acceleration'. This prevents the abrupt flicker, but is only suitable for a static menu without any animation.

The other option I miss, is that with v4 when you had a slide with a Button,as in a Menu, the Mouse Cursor would automatically appear when that slide was shown. Now you have to set the whole project to show Mouse Cursor, which I do not like doing.

So if it is possible to make it work the way it used to then please Igor can you do so.

Jill

[AVMaestroFRPS]

That's a great improvement Jill, thank you. Unticking "hardware acceleration" gets rid of the flicker, replacing it with a quick cut to the first (BLANK) slide - much better, but I would still prefer to have a fade!

I followed the links suggested by "Nobeefstu" but I'm afraid I didn't find most of them very helpful - just because some people don't use a feature doesn't seem a good reason to deny it to those who do. I didn't understand Lin's suggestion to "use a mask and various black or color jpg's to simulate a "wipe" and do a fade in using transparency change" - is there a tutorial on this anywhere on the Forum?

That's another problem I have: every time I try to search for a topic, such as "how to mask", I get an error message telling me my keywords are below 4 characters.

Regards,

Malc

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I too miss the fade in/out that we used to get in v4.

The other option which I use, is that for your Menu, untick the 'use hardware acceleration'. This prevents the abrupt flicker, but is only suitable for a static menu without any animation.

Jill

[davegee]

just because some people don't use a feature doesn't seem a good reason to deny it to those who do

Oh, what a profound statement!!

It applies to most of the "discussions" going on at present.

We don't need a video editor - we use an external editor!

We don't need Audio editing facilities - we use Audacity!

You can't have a large monitor because I don't have/want one.

etc etc etc.

DG

[fh1805]

To borrow a quote from Abraham Lincoln (slightly modified): You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time.

And therein lies Igor's main problem - he tries to achieve the impossible! And, it has to be said, that despite our interference with the occasional improbable suggestion, he does a damned good job!

Peter

[AVMaestroFRPS]

No need to shout DG (he's probably upset because Wales lost the Rugby)

[jkb]

To borrow a quote from Abraham Lincoln (slightly modified): You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time.

And therein lies Igor's main problem - he tries to achieve the impossible! And, it has to be said, that despite our interference with the occasional improbable suggestion, he does a damned good job!

Peter

Thank you Peter for reminding us of this fact. Igor & his team usually manage to work miracles & have given us an excellent product.

Jill

[davegee]

(he's probably upset because Wales lost the Rugby)

Upset - definitely NOT!

Disappointed - of course.

DG