No PTE for me?

[willemx]

During the last couple of days I have been tinkering with a trial version of PTE 7.5.

I am getting to the point now that I think PTE was not meant for me.

I have not come to this conclusion lightly; I read the manual, browsed the forum and did a lot of experimenting.

I know now that PTE can do everything I need it to do and can produce stunning output.

However, it is just taking me way too much time due to the (in my opinion) extremely confusing and counterintuitive user interface.

It is very frustrating to me that PTE cannot do the most basic and simple tasks (adding, deleting, editing, moving images around on the timeline) in a way that I can appreciate and have gotten used to from working with other applications.

Although I know PTE can do all of these things (and I did them in some way or another), I have just not found a proper way for me to do it. Just some examples:

If I delete an image, the images "to the right" don't snap to the left,

If I drag a picture into the timeline, it just drops into another one, messing everything up instead of neatly fitting in by making enough room,

I cannot just pick an image and drag it to another place in the timeline,

I keep trying to right click to change object properties, but they are not there,

If I trim a video clip, nothing happens to the slide duration (it just gets a freezing image at the end), (and if I trim it in the converter I just get yet another converted image (that I didn't want in the first place, but PTE cannot handle my .MTS AVCHD files)),

I...

I could go on but I won't.

I know that there are many nice and helpful people on this forum that would like to help out on every item on this list (I think this is one of PTE's most strongest points), but I am afraid that this list is getting just too long.

So, I will sleep over it one more night, but I fear will have to leave you all.

Please note: This post is not meant to be un-nice to or critical of the developer(s?); I am sure that there must be valid reasons for PTE to work the way it works.

I really do appreciate PTE, especially the extremely powerful (and easy and intuitive way!) of creating pans and zooms, which was the main reason for me to look into PTE.

[Lin Evans]

Hi,

Sorry it didn't work out for you, but PTE is not an editor, it's an extremely powerful presentation tool and as such has an interface conducive specifically to that task. I'm not certain which other applications you are accustomed to working with, but you certainly can add, remove and move images easily on the slide list, not the timeline. Editing is not a primary feature of PTE because the developers believe that sufficient specialized editing tools exist to handle that task beautifully. There are numerous things which will be improved in the imminent beta release (probably Monday) of version 8 of PTE with "some" editing capabilities primarily centered around audio features, but again, it's not destined to be an editor.

I'm unsure of why you are having problems with "deleting" an image and not having the adjacent image on the slide list move to the left. That's precisely how PTE works. Actually you are not "deleting" the image, but rather "removing" it from the collection of images in your show. It's best if you do not "drag" and drop your images on the timeline, you "should" do that on the slide list. Then it will work exactly as you expect. Indeed, if you want to "move" the position of the image - click on the "slide" button and drag your image to any position desired, but do not do that on the timeline. Though you "can" insert and remove slides via the timeline, that's really not the place to do that. As for a freezing video image at the end? All you need to do is click on Keep Full Slide Duration under Preferences/Project Tab. Object Properties are changed in the Properties tab of the Objects And Animations screen. Specific animation properties are changed in the Animations Tab on the Objects and Animations Screen. The Common Tab on the Objects and Animations screen allows a wide variety of options. There are far to many options for object properties to allow changing by choice or a pick-list with a simple right click of the mouse, that's why there are three tabs and multiple other screens devoted to object properties.

You really can't expect to learn PTE in a few hours or even a few days. It's a very powerful and complex software. Some of us have been using it for over a decade and are still learning new, useful and innovative ways to use it. Actually, many powerful programs are at first somewhat non-intuitive. For example, perhaps the most powerful video editor which exists is LightWorks. It's used by the movie industry and has been the mainstay of editing for a huge number of major motion pictures. If you really want to see "non-intuitive," download a free copy and play with it for a few days.

There are very good reasons why PTE is "the" number one choice of AV competitors world-wide. In the recent Royal Photographic Society United Kingdom National Championships, 98 percent (all except one) of the competitors used PicturesToExe, including all the winners. That's how "good" this product is perceived to be by those who work with slide and video combination presentations competitively!

It's too bad you didn't stick with it long enough to really learn how to use PTE, but perhaps it's simply not the right product for you. Not everyone is wired exactly the same and not every software is a good "fit." AVCHD can be a problem. This is not only true for PTE but also for other software which uses both stills and videos. That issue will be addressed in the future and there are already huge video handling improvements and very useful new features shortly to be available including things which simply can't be done by other products.

A few months ago, on a Friday afternoon, I saw an example of what a sophisticated MacIntosh and Adobe Creative Suite user spent a week creating using the most powerful tools available from Adobe and Apple. It took three different software tools and a week of hard work according to the author to create his demonstration.

I duplicated and actually made a much more intricate show entirely in PTE in four hours and posted it to YouTube. The show consists of a 3D video room with 646 individual video screens (three walls, floor and ceiling) playing simultaneous videos . In addition, a rotating, zooming cube changing in real-time from a single image on all six sides to playing separate videos on all six sides. I use a wide variety of presentation slideshow and video products including some which cost ten times what PTE costs and I could not have done this with "any" of my other products. Obviously, this is not a project of any consuming interest to most, but it does demonstrate the power of this product. In addition, I posted three tutorials to YouTube showing people exactly how it was done.

Here's a link if you would like to have a look - It's HD (1080P)...

Best regards,

Lin (Icejasper)

[willemx]

@Lin:

Thank you for your detailed response. I can see that you care for this product and I can see why, even though I do not agree on some of your points.

You say that PTE is not an editor, but for me PTE most definitely IS an editor, namely an editor of slideshows. Not an editor of photos or videos as you seem to think I do; I use Lightroom for that. The only "real" editing I want to do in PTE is trimming videos.

I think that an editor of graphical items should have a graphical UI. I find it very strange that -when for example I want to reorder some images- in PTE I have to switch over to a textbased list of filenames which mean nothing to me when I can see the very items before me on a beautiful timeline.

The same with adding images: I can see them in the file list and I can see the place where I want them to be on the timeline, but I cannot put them there.

I cannot see the point or the advantage of not being able to do this and this frustrates/irritates me endlessly. (Perhaps my background as a software developer plays a part in this I am just itching to put this right (for me, that is))

Concerning the AVCHD issues: I already found a way of dealing with this in PTE and I certainly wouldn't mind waiting for a PTE-fix.

As to the video trimming issue: ticking the option you mentioned did not help me, but I found another thread on this forum with this very same problem: so gladly I am not all alone here...

So, thanks again and maybe we'll meet again later (at PTE V9 perhaps?)

[Lin Evans]

Hi Wille,

Actually, you still have misunderstandings which are expected unless you have sufficient time to digest this product.

You do not have to switch over to a text based list of file names - that is an option and not a necessity. There are multiple ways to display your images and there is indeed a graphical based display, you need only become aware of "how" to set your preferences. Click on "Settings" in the tool bar on top. Click on to remove or replace the checkmark on table view of slide list or table view of file list to switch between text view and graphical view. If you want a full screen view of the file list then the F3 and F4 keys are your toggles.

Many people who use PTE never use the text based lists while others prefer it.

I too was a software developer for many years and I understand that people all have different ways of working - but regardless of our experience and knowledge of software, or our expertise with other software, this program simply can not be mastered in a short period of time.

As I described, it's best to use the slide list to order your images and videos rather than the timeline. It's a simple one click tab to go back and forth. Seriously, you simply do not yet understand how to use the interface or change the interface to the one which best suits you. It's indeed possible to drag and drop any image precisely where you want it on the timeline, but you must understand how that's done. Hold down the left mouse button and drag your image onto the timeline. Drag it downward until the thumbnail disappears and a vertical red line appears. Move the red line to the precise time you wish that slide to begin in accordance with the time scale and release the left mouse button. It's really quite easy, but you need to learn how it works. If you want to move any slide on the timeline, left click on that slide and drag the thumbnail downward until the vertical red line again appears. Drag the red line to the precise time where you want the slide to begin and release the left mouse button. It's a "timeline" not a visual thumbnail line. That's the slide list. In the Slide List you can drag any image and drop it in any order. A vertical dotted line will appear as an indicator of when you have sufficiently moved the slide in a lateral motion to properly drop it into the desired position. If you right click on any thumbnail slide you can use the drop-down table to remove any slide from the line of tumbnails. All slides to the right will then orderly move to the left.

Hopefully, you will find something which will work the way you are used to working and will do what you need. I wish you the best of luck in your quest. Who knows, as you say perhaps some day you will rediscover the value of this product.

Best regards,

Lin

[Guest Yachtsman1]

@Lin:

Thank you for your detailed response. The only "real" editing I want to do in PTE is trimming videos.

Go to the tutorial section or search my posts, there is a detailed explanation on trimming video.

Yachtsman1

[Ken Cox]

why not wait till next week, when Igor said he is going to issue v8 b1

supposed to be a lot of changes

ken

[Spock]

...............

I am getting to the point now that I think PTE was not meant for me.

............

And since yesterday, for me either

Spock

[willemx]

Sorry to hear that. It was not my intention to start a negative tread to scare people away from PTE. Actually, I am reconsidering to using PTE myself.

After reading Lin's remarks I have been playing all day with PTE and Adobe Premiere. Both applications are sort of overkill for what I basically need.

I am slowly getting used to PTE's "dual timelines" (the slidelist in thumbnail-mode acting as a sort of simplified extra timeline).

My major issue is with trimming video clips. I can understand that a slide can have multiple clips or other objects and that they all could have different lengths. But then there should be at least some button or option to set the slide duration to the length of the maximum enclosed object or something like that.

I now have (to remember) to manually fiddle with succeeding slides to get things right again after trimming a clip and this just does not feel right.

What itches me most is that when I import a video clip into my project, a slide is automatically created with the right duration, so the developer who wrote the code to do this has rightly assumed that this is what I want. Now, if I do not add any other object to this slide, he (or she) can safely assume that I want to keep it this way, that is: duration of slide = duration of clip. So, developer, please finish what you started to do so well?

Anyway, I've not given up yet...

[Big Kev]

Sorry to hear that. It was not my intention to start a negative tread to scare people away from PTE. Actually, I am reconsidering to using PTE myself.

After reading Lin's remarks I have been playing all day with PTE and Adobe Premiere. Both applications are sort of overkill for what I basically need.

I am slowly getting used to PTE's "dual timelines" (the slidelist in thumbnail-mode acting as a sort of simplified extra timeline).

My major issue is with trimming video clips. I can understand that a slide can have multiple clips or other objects and that they all could have different lengths. But then there should be at least some button to set the slide duration to the length of the maximum enclosed object or something like that.

I now have (to remember) to manually fiddle with succeeding slides to get things right again after trimming a clip and this just does not feel right.

Anyway, I've not given up yet...

Hi Willem,

Jill Bunting and I go around the country visiting camera clubs and in a matter of minutes can teach club members who have never delved into making an audio visual sequence how to produce a basic sequence.

They select a folder containing their images and all the images appear as thumbnails in the the box at the side of the viewing screen.

Viewing them there can be difficult as you can only see a few. Therefore select F3 and all the images appear on a lighbox. Double click on the images you want in the order that you want them and when you close the lightbox down - all your images will be on the slide tray in the order you selected them.

If not quite right or you change your mind, drag them to another position, let go and they go in to that place.

You can also drag them in and place them exactly where you want them in the timeline view.

Drag a sound file onto the bottom line in the timeline view and you have made your sequence.

A complete novice made a sequence in that way during the tea break at a club and we showed the 'finished' sequence after the break!!!

I see from what you say that you are more concerned about videos - for 'slides' read 'video'.

You can more or less do exactly the same - they can be worked on in the same way and all the transitions work the same from a simple cut to a 3D change.....it is therefore easy to place two different videos running at the same time in a V shape on one frame.

I recently attended a demonstration of 'Final Cut Pro' and the person demonstrating it spent 40 minutes making an arrow move across a frame exposing text as it passed.

Total time in PTE - about 5 minutes on a bad day!!!

Stick with it - we haven't found anything better!!!

John

[jkb]

Willemx,

If you look at the Slide View (thumbnails) you will see two numbers on each slide.

The top left number immediately after the AB is the Transition time - ie the time taken for one slide to 'move' into the next slide.

The number on the bottom right of each slide is the duration of that slide (including the Transition Time)

You can easily alter either time by clicking on it & using the mouse wheel/arrow keys/or typing directly in the box.

You can also select multiple slides & change them all at once if you require the same times on each.

OR you can quickly amend times in the Timeline view.

You will see that each slide thumbnail has a grey bar above it. This is the Transition time.

Put your mouse on the end of the grey bar, left click & drag to amend the Time.

By left clicking on a slide thumbnail & dragging the slide you can alter the duration of the preceding slide (the White part after the grey bar).

It is very quick once you get the hang of it & by expanding the Timeline (CTRL+mouse Wheel or CTRL+F11 (CTRL+F12 to collapse again)) you can very accurately position your images.

To trim a video clip, add your video in Slide view, then click on Objects & Animation.

Click on the Properties Tab (right hand side of screen) You will see 3 times, Start Time, Duration & Offset.

Click on the down arrow by Start Time.

A new window drops down showing your video.

Under the video you will see a bar with an orange triangle above & a grey triangle at start & end below the bar.

Drag the grey triangles to the position you wish to trim your video, you will see the frames change in the window.

Note the new duration of the video & amend the Duration of the slide to match either by changing the number in the Slide view or by dragging the slide in the Timeline view.

It really is very quick & easy once you get used to it.

Jill

[MUR]

I think most of your comments show that you do not yet know how to use the basics of the program. Play with it a little more and and maybe you will understand why we are so addicted to it.

MUR

[willemx]

Ok, Ok, Ok, Ok, Ok, mea culpa, mea culpa.

I will order my brand new PTE licence tomorrow...

Kind regards to everyone involved!

[Big Kev]

Ok, Ok, Ok, Ok, Ok, mea culpa, mea culpa.

I will order my brand new PTE licence tomorrow...

Kind regards to everyone involved!

Well done that man - you know it makes sense!!!

Best wishes,

John

[MUR]

Welcome

MUR

[ContaxMan]

Ah - glad that's sorted out! I teach PTE and can show someone the basics in 10 minutes!

[JudyKay]

You will be glad you stuck with PTE.