Max Out O & A ?

[lester]

I suspect there is maximum level of O&A applied to any one slide when PTE says "enough is enough" and one is hit with lags, unresponsiveness, exceptions/objections, can't load image and stuff. I was cursing Windows 8 again so I did a clean reinstall of it, etc, on a usually solid performing PC, Intel I7, 16gb ram, etc, with no improvement. Transferred the project to another computer with similar results.

As a relative newbie to PTE I am on a the dreaded learning curve and will start again with more slides involved where the action, O&A, is taking place.

But I wonder if this is a known area and to avoid too many new images, movements, adjustments, etc, to any one slide?

I was able to successfully 'publish' an MP4 and .exe file before I went too far. But the project is unfinished.

Many thanks

Lester

[PGA]

To give you pertinent advice we need to know a little bit more about what you are doing. What size are your images (in terms of pixels by pixels, and also in terms of KB or MB)? How many objects on each slide? Are any of your objects video clips?

Although you have given us some details of your PC, you haven't given us the crucial piece of data: what graphics card is installed and how much on-board RAM has it got?

To give you some idea of what PTE can handle, I have two sequences that feature heavy animation on every slide: one is built of 1024x768 images, the other of 1920x1080 images. Both have over 250 objects on each slide and all those objects are in motion at the same time. My graphics card is from the bottom end of the performance scale but with extra on board RAM. It copes with both these sequences - just.

regards,

Peter

[Lin Evans]

Hi Lester,

It's unlikely you have reached a PTE limit, probably more likely you have reached a hardware limitation. As Peter correctly points out, the video card is extremely important and especially the amount of dedicated video RAM. The number of objects is rarely an issue. I have made successful animations which have literally thousands of objects on a single slide. This sequence played smoothly on one of my systems which had only 500 megabytes of video RAM.

There is approximately a two gigabyte limit in terms of executable file size which has to do with the 32 bit operating system which is why it's important to know the pixel dimensions and file sizes of your project. Video, especially, can get very, very large and even though it's possible to "play" a larger than two gigabyte video, trying to create executable code with such a huge file will result in failure. There is a decided difference in the way a computer handles video code and executable code so if you are using extremely large video files or a combination of large video files and large images you may be reaching system limitations. Even though PTE runs fine on a 64 bit system, it is a 32 bit software and can't avail itself of the additional system RAM you have. I have a 64 bit Windows 8.1 system with 32 gigabytes of RAM and a top-end video card with three gigabytes of dedicated video RAM but were I to try to exceed the approximate two gigabyte limatation of executable file size this system would work no better than my Window XP system with 4 gigabytes of RAM and video card with 500 meg of RAM.

If, as Peter suggests, you can tell us specifics about your video card and the types of objects and their sizes, perhaps we can help sort this for you.

Best regards,

Lin

[lester]

Thanks for quick response. Video card is ATI Radeon 5770 1gb ram. PC is 64 bit system. I have not included any videos in the sequence, just still images of reasonably small mb size. Many of them are .png files and they are smallish mb files.-, eg, falling leaves, moving animals. Also had one main audio track with separate small timed sound effects at intervals.

The main images are 1920x1080 or a bit larger, a couple larger for panning, but not large mb files. The project option set at 16x9 wide screen.

The MP4 file created was about 74mb.

I've been careful to not use large jpg files to avoid any chance of stutters which I have experienced before with other software.

Appreciate you taking the time. I will eventually recreate the sequence after absorbing more tech stuff from the excellent on-line help.

I probably should add that most of the O&A stuff occurs on 1 slide over about 2 minutes. And I don't know how to count 'actions' unless by keeping a 'diary'. Any other way?

Lester

[PGA]

Hi Lester,

I am slightly concerned that you describe your files as "smallish mb". I am used to seeing my 1920x1080 JPEGs coming out at 500-850KB and my PNGs at perhaps twice that depending upon the size of the non-transparent area. In my experience, a source file in excess of 1MB is the exception rather than the norm, and is usually associated with a deep zoom. 74MB for an output video file is actually quite small in my experience.

I'm not sure where you got the idea that we needed a count of actions. You can see exactly how many objects there are on each slide by looking at the information at the bottom of the tree of objects in the O&A window. But as Lin points out, the number of objects is unlikely to be the root cause of your problems.

Which output format are you most concerned to have: the EXE or the MP4? And which output format is showing the worst effects right now?

regards,

Peter

[lester]

Thanks again Peter.

Most images/png are under 1 mb and usually about 1/2 and most png's are well below that. But I found a couple between 2-4 mb. So that may be part of the problem?

The output files are fine and play well, no problems with them. I created them before any major hangups. It's when I go to modify the existing .pte, introduce more images, modify some O&A timing that I strike trouble.

However I will get back to it and persevere with a few more ideas about what to do.

Cheers

lester

I have reduced all the file sizes incl .png's and it all seems to be getting back on track. So thank you for raising that suggestion. I did not realise that consideration would have been so critical.

It's all in the lernin'.

Lester

[jt49]

I suspect there is maximum level of O&A applied to any one slide when PTE says "enough is enough" and one is hit with lags, unresponsiveness, exceptions/objections, can't load image and stuff ...

PTE does not say "enough is enough". But there are restrictions in the O&A window regarding the pixel dimensions of images (not file sizes). You may look at Igor's statement here.

Regards,

jt

[lester]

Thank you, jt. Igor's statement you referenced really explains the problem enough. I did search the forum earlier for a possible answer with no response but obviously asked the wrong question.

I have never had a problem using relatively large jpg's in a 'Harmony' type AV's but too many O&A activities in 1 slide carries some restrictions re pixel dimensions. And I've never used so many png files before.

Following some hints offered above I downsized all images and am back on track.

Regards

lester