PTE doesn't want to stop

[smokinggoldfish]

Some of my PTE shows have a lot of video, and several audio tracks. While playing the sequence with the timeline and small preview window open (see screen shot) I find that PTE does not always stop when I want it to. I press the "pause" icon at bottom left of the preview pane, but PTE carries on running, often for many seconds. It's as though PTE is too busy to take notice of my instruction. Eventually it will stop, usually at the end of a slide (still or video). But sometimes it behaves normally and stops instantly.

Maybe something else is running in the background and consuming the PC's resources (virus checker, disc defrag....etc)?

Is there another way to force a pause?

sg

[Guest Yachtsman1]

This may or may not be connected, I noticed you had a mixture of MP3 & WAV sound clips. This has caused problems with PTE in the past.

Yachtsman1.

[smokinggoldfish]

Thanks Yachtsman,

I usually use wav but sometimes extract the audio from a video file, and that gives the mixture. I'll monitor the problem in future to see if this mixture is the cause. I could always try removing the mp3 files to see if that cures it. Another little project for a rainy day....

sg

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi SG

If I was you I would go the other way & make them all MP3, which will have the added bonus of reducing the finished file size.

Yachtsman1.

[smokinggoldfish]

Thanks Yachtsman,

That would be sensible. I usually record in wav as it is better quality, and I guess if you are manipulating levels, using effects etc then the quality is maintained better. But having done any processing e.g. in Audacity I could convert to mp3 for the actual tracks within PTE. (Actually at my age I am not sure I could hear much difference between wav and mp3! Another thing to try sometime.)

Do you know if the problems of mixed wav and mp3 also occur in the finished .exe files? I have a complex AV of stills, video, mp3 and wav, and have had problems running it even on a modern laptop. I had to convert to a video (mp4) to be sure it would always run smoothly....

sg

[davegee]

PTE has the facility (built in) to convert all audio tracks to a single mp3 for the exe file thus reducing the exe file size and potentially solving your problem? (Or not)

Worth a try?

DG

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Thanks Yachtsman,

That would be sensible. I usually record in wav as it is better quality, and I guess if you are manipulating levels, using effects etc then the quality is maintained better. But having done any processing e.g. in Audacity I could convert to mp3 for the actual tracks within PTE. (Actually at my age I am not sure I could hear much difference between wav and mp3! Another thing to try sometime.)

Do you know if the problems of mixed wav and mp3 also occur in the finished .exe files? I have a complex AV of stills, video, mp3 and wav, and have had problems running it even on a modern laptop. I had to convert to a video (mp4) to be sure it would always run smoothly....

sg

Hi SG

I always convert to MP3. Many of the sound effects in my archive are mono WAV files & I've been caught out out a few times & let one slip through as a WAV. I can't remember having any problems personally, but have heard of many who have. So to be on the safe side I always convert to MP3. Incidentally I'm in my 76th year & can't hear any difference between WAV & MP3.

Yachtsman1.

[smokinggoldfish]

Thanks davegee and yachtsman1,

when I made .exe files with/without the mp3 conversion I saw how much smaller they could be. Amazingly so! For example when saved with the mixed wav and mp3 audio tracks my file was 964 Mb, when saved with the mp3 option chosen it came down to 429 Mb. I can't see why there should be such a huge difference but there is, and I've seen the same effect on another sequence. In future I'll always use this option.

While running the sequence in preview mode the problem of PTE not stopping also only seems to happen with mixed wav and mp3 audio. If I convert all the audio to mp3 first the preview runs smoothly. (Maybe this is something that will be improved in the next version?)

Thanks for your help,

sg

[smokinggoldfish]

Further to this problem of PTE not stopping: When previewing part of the project in the time line view the problem often occurs if I have mixed wav and mp3 audio present.  But if I use the slide view for the same part of the project then it runs smoothly and always stops when I click the pause button. So that is a handy work-around.

SG