File size Limit

[RobertAlbright]

Hello Lin

Why not eliminate the optional tick box altogether? All unused audio (WAV or mp3) is then trimmed by default.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Robert,

Because if you have an mp3 which is used in a couple places such as at the beginning or end of a lengthy show, PTE only loads the mp3 once and the additional use adds nothing to the size of the overall executable file. On the other hand, If you use the so called "trim" feature by ticking the box, this relatively small mp3 becomes a large file size because it encodes the silence between the first and last use of the mp3. So doing away with the "tick" box and using the same present system to convert all audio to mp3 would, in this case, result in a considerably larger overall file size because of the silence encoded between the two uses of this same audio file.

Having the option to tick or not gives flexibility which would be missing otherwise.

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Also consider this:

It is not possible to Trim a file - be it video or audio - and leave the trimmed bits behind without creating a new (trimmed) version of the file.

e.g. Audio file xxxx is 5 minutes long and you want to trim a minute off each end.

You must create another Audio File xxxx2 which will be three minutes long. It can be the same format as the original i.e. WAV or MP3. But it is a NEW version of the trimmed file.

Now do that for each trimmed file in a project.

DG

[Barry Beckham]

I have to say I am beginning to lose the will to live here. Unless I am missing something it all seems simple to me, but I could be wrong and I am willing to stand corrected if I am missing something. Take a look at the attached screen grab

Its a 2 blank, one image test with a 12 minute track used

[jt49]

Maybe a daft suggestion: What about an upload of the corresponding projects?

Regards,

jt

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

Did you download JT's zipped project files and try them for yourself? Here's one I created with identical results:

http://www.lin-evans.org/pte8/silence-mp3.zip

http://www.lin-evans.org/pte8/silence-no-mp3.zip

Open these and create exe files with each and look at the difference in size... the mp3 (ticked) version is about 9 meg larger..

Best regards,

Lin

[jt49]

In any case where a project contains any kind of audio, and if the MP3 option is ticked, it seems that PTE produces an MP3 stereo file having the playing time of the given project.

Regards,

jt

[Barry Beckham]

Lin

No I didn't download JT's file, but I have now and and I can see what you're getting at, but it doesn't seem to follow any logic to me. Do we really need to be Einstein to understand our slide show software?

I create a 20 second show with 12 minutes of music:

Created with No Mp3 conversion the file size is 15.8MB. Even though I hear no more than 20 seconds

Created with Mp3 ticked the file size is 1.9MB - this is the issue that was driving me.

I had no idea there was another complication as in

I create a 10 minute show with just a small thunder roll at the start and at the end.

Created with No Mp3 ticked and the file size is 1.4mb

Created with Mp3 Ticked and the file size is 20MB

What was driving me was to try and make things less complex for newer PTE users, which can only be a good thing. I had no idea it was even more complex than I first thought, but my intentions were still correct and honourable in my view. Things have to be simpler than this don't they?

You have to be a technical boffin and have years of experience to understand all this and most of us just want to make a slide show.

[davegee]

The file with the long silence is one case where the convert to mp3 option would/should not be used. We have the option to not use it.

Keep all options open.

DG

[Barry Beckham]

Dave

Well, you're right, but don't you think that misses the point just a bit? As I say, so many times, this sort of thing means little or nothing to the PTE experts like you, Lin, JT and others, but it's the sort of illogical thing that just makes software more complicated than it really should be.

It went right over my head and I use the software extensively. Given that fact either I am stupid or the software isn't logical. If it's possible (and I accept not all things are) it should be tidied up.

[davegee]

I don't think so Barry,

If you look back I haven't disagreed with you.

But I believe that understanding the implications of a proposal are important. The theory that PTE could disregard the bits that we don't want in an EXE without performing other actions was what occurred to me.

The other thing is that perhaps the answer to the original problem is not making the "Convert Tracks to MP3" Button default to ON or even removing it. The answer "might" be in the education of the new users in the art of using only what is necessary to do the job rather than using full size images from a 36MP camera, WAV files and using just 10 seconds of an hour long video........and then expecting PTE to clear up the mess.

Ever since I first proposed the Preferences feature this is the sort of thing that I had in mind.

I was in favour of a Preferences where everything was initially ticked and and as the user became more familiar with the programme he/she could start unticking boxes.

If the button we are talking about here was a ticked Preference then the new user would (perhaps) be blissfully unaware that his/her audio tracks were being converted into a single 256kbps MP3...............until he/she included 5 minutes of silence and wondered why the exe file size was so large. But is a large MP3 file size that big a problem? Not as big, perhaps, as using a small portion of a large Video File.

How can we educate the new user to do the "right" thing from the very beginning?

http://docs.picturestoexe.com/en/techniques/exefilesize

I have just noticed that Audio Files are not even mentioned.........

DG