PTE Reaches of Space Demo

[fxdesigner]

Follow this link (below) to view an excerpt from "Reaches of Space"

We design for film and video productions. While we do still use conventional storyboarding techniques,

we also use PTE to design and confirm both PRE and POST Production concepts before committing to a

final rendered production project, especially for more technically involved projects.

In this example, we are designing for a segment involving a rendering of the western hemisphere of earth

as seen from a geo-sync satellite to explain some of the features of this view of the planet.

While not a finished product, (this is a PRE production segment) it nevertheless shows

the value of using PTE for this type of application. PTE makes it very easy and straight-forward

to present our concepts to production management and clients alike.

Generally the finished project is output to HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Our storyboard concept cuts are output to

1024 x 768 SD with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

We generate narration dialog content and cue points via computer voice synthesis which allows us to

place audio tracks (voice and music) that in turn saves us (time & money) from initially hiring voice-over narrators

until the final production concepts are completed.

The example presented here is just under a minute in length.

Reaches of Space Demo THIS IS FOR A PC ONLY

regards,

FX Designer

[goddi]

...The example presented here is just under a minute in length....

Reaches of Space Demo THIS IS FOR A PC ONLY

regards,

FX Designer

===================

Greetings,

I took a look. Very nice. Well done.

Gary

[fxdesigner]

Gary, thanks for taking a moment to have a look.

As mentioned, as we use PTE, it is a real time saver

in presenting animation and design sequence concepts

as well as being able to produce a reasonable working

simulation of a final project series of concepts.

In this case, we simply rendered the 'Earth' with cloud

and day/night sequences as a video underlay with the

text and narration with music soundtrack for sequence

placement and initial timing considerations.

Using PTE this was done in less than 45 minutes.

Conventional DRAWN panel storyboards would have been

between 1 and 2 days for this sequence and not as well

defined in terms of objective, animation and appearance.

Thanks again, for your comment.

FX Designer

[fh1805]

fxdesigner,

If you would like more people to view your handiwork you need a faster Internet connection on your file host. I've tried twice to download this file. The first attempt (9pm UK time) had peaked at only 35Kbps after 30 seconds; the second attempt (8am UK time) peaked at only 190Kbps after 30 seconds. I wasn't prepared to wait for either of those attempts to complete. Time to shake off the dust of the 20th century and join the 21st century, perhaps?

regards,

Peter

[davegee]

Nicely done - reminds me of some of the work that Lin Evans has done.

Small point - why is the finished product here such a large file size?

If you are using the same large elements which will also be used in the final production it might be understandable but for a 4:3 1024x768 could these elements not be reduced in size?

DG

[Igor]

Thanks for very interesting information! We're pleased to learn about this usage of PicturesToExe.

[fxdesigner]

fxdesigner,

If you would like more people to view your handiwork you need a faster Internet connection on your file host. I've tried twice to download this file. The first attempt (9pm UK time) had peaked at only 35Kbps after 30 seconds; the second attempt (8am UK time) peaked at only 190Kbps after 30 seconds. I wasn't prepared to wait for either of those attempts to complete. Time to shake off the dust of the 20th century and join the 21st century, perhaps?

regards,

Peter

Peter, thanks for the comment, however many factors come into play regarding transfer speeds. I can assure you we have very fast servers. (Please

see the attached image). In addition, I have posted a smaller version (same output) different codec if you are interested. While we always appreciate

feedback, (positive and constructive) you can't always assume a technical issue is the result of the source file. In this case, we feel the transfer issue originated elsewhere and not with our server connectivity**.

**Please refer to 'goddi' response below - his D/L connectivity was very good.

kind regards,

FX Designer

[fxdesigner]

Nicely done - reminds me of some of the work that Lin Evans has done.

Small point - why is the finished product here such a large file size?

If you are using the same large elements which will also be used in the final production it might be understandable but for a 4:3 1024x768 could these elements not be reduced in size?

DG

Dave,

Thank you for your comments.

The original posted example was straight from the production floor, hence the larger file size. We have re-posted the example and it is now 1/2 the size of the original posted sample (same output, different codec). Thanks for pointing that out.

kind regards,

FX Designer

[fxdesigner]

Thanks for very interesting information! We're pleased to learn about this usage of PicturesToExe.

Igor,

Actually THANK YOU! - Your efforts never cease to amaze us with PTE.

Regarding our use, as mentioned, because of PTE we do save both time and

money in our production process, some of which is a direct result of

your great software. Your continued efforts are very much appreciated.

kind regards,

FX Designer

[Igor]

Please can you copy your response (probably with some corrections) to What customers say about PicturesToExe?

It would be wonderful if you could add the name of your company.

Also can you allow me include your response to our website to Testimonials page?

[fxdesigner]

Please can you copy your response (probably with some corrections) to What customers say about PicturesToExe?

It would be wonderful if you could add the name of your company.

Also can you allow me include your response to our website to Testimonials page?

Igor,

We will be happy to. We will post something within the next 12-24 hours.

Company name: MG Graphics and Design (Ventura, CA - USA)

Release from us to use any comments is fine.

regards,

FX Designer

[goddi]

fxdesigner,

If you would like more people to view your handiwork you need a faster Internet connection on your file host. I've tried twice to download this file. The first attempt (9pm UK time) had peaked at only 35Kbps after 30 seconds; the second attempt (8am UK time) peaked at only 190Kbps after 30 seconds. I wasn't prepared to wait for either of those attempts to complete. Time to shake off the dust of the 20th century and join the 21st century, perhaps?

regards,

Peter

==========================

Peter,

Just to give you some comparison to my download, when it first started it was a bit over 900kb/sec. Then it dropped a bit, maybe around 600kb/sec, then when up a bit. Anyway, the entire download took only 60 seconds. I am not techy enough to point to any reason for the difference in download speeds, but maybe it was not their server. Duno... just interesting to see the differences.

Gary

[fh1805]

Gary,

I tried a third time this evening (UK time). The smaller version of the file (43.8MB) took over ten minutes to download at observed speeds between 34kBps and 118kBps (I gave up watching, see below). I followed that with a fresh download of v7.5 beta: 13MB in a handful of seconds at 1.1MBbs slowest observed speed. Whatever it it is that is causing the delays, it isn't my system and it isn't the Internet "cloud". What does that leave? It leaves the file host server and the network connection of that server to the cloud. fxdesigner says there's no problem at his end. I'm satisfied that there's no problem at my end or on the "cloud" in general. The only problem is with his file. What other conclusion could I reach?

Having, finally, got a successful download (by dint of starting it off and then going to make a cup of coffee - I thought those days were long gone with 10Mbps broadband!) I must say I am impressed with the animation.

regards,

Peter

[fxdesigner]

...Whatever it it is that is causing the delays, it isn't my system and it isn't the Internet "cloud". What does that leave? It leaves the file host server and the network connection of that server to the cloud. fxdesigner says there's no problem at his end. I'm satisfied that there's no problem at my end or on the "cloud" in general. The only problem is with his file. What other conclusion could I reach?

Having, finally, got a successful download (by dint of starting it off and then going to make a cup of coffee - I thought those days were long gone with 10Mbps broadband!) I must say I am impressed with the animation.

regards,

Peter

Peter,

As previously mentioned, it is NOT with our hosted servers (We use dedicated servers from GoDaddy.com) and network pings are at 30ms - 50ms handshaking intervals.

I'm not suggesting the issue of connectivity is with your local system or carrier, but there is a bottleneck being created somewhere. However at the same time, to lay the issue at our end is a bit unfair. We offer downloads to our clients on a 365day / 24hr basis and with very rare exception has anyone complained about D/L speeds and for those few who may have, it turned out to be a connectivity issue beyond our server or its network hub(s).

If I might suggest... Try this URL http://network-tools.com On this site you will find FREE online tools that will provide you with information regarding the speed and efficiency of your overall internet network connection (in real-time). You can ping / trace route your connections to see specifically how long a connection is taking to complete (communicate with). Our IP address is: 208.109.229.219 IF your connection is favorable, there may be some kind of throttling control being used (again not from our end, but from yours through your internet carrier / host account). As other users have attested, their download speeds are not experiencing the slow connection(s) you seem to be confronted with. Not saying with certainty this is the case, but it is a possibility.

Geographically speaking, our files are in Scottsdale Arizona (USA) - maybe the cable data is getting wet across the pond. I am however glad you at least enjoyed the animation.

regards,

FX Designer