What Can I Do With PicturesToExe?

[Lin Evans]

Hi Folks - Often I'm asked what can be done with PicturesToExe besides the things which can be done with any other presentation slideshow software. In other words, why spend the extra money when I could just use something like Lightroom to make my slideshow? I explain about the quality and features such as the ability to use a totally manual mode for educational presentations, popup identification of subjects, and so on but it's difficult to put into a few words the incredible versatility of this product. So I create fantasy demonstrations of things most will never probably even want to do, but which can easily be done with PTE. This is one of those type shows. Later I'll put links to executable versions for Mac and Windows PC, but I just uploaded the show to YouTube and thought I would link it here. I titled it "What Can I Do With PicturesToExe?" Here's the YouTube Link - demo runs for about eight minutes:  

Lin

[Jean-Cyprien]

Hi Lin,

This is very difficult to answer your question.

First of all I've to thank you, Lin, having put my Rubic's cube in this AVshow. But what is important, and you didn't say it, is the fact that with such a style, every beginner is able to put his own pictures on the cube.

The answer is a difficult problem because we want to show the marvellous things PTE is able to do. But to do by who ? OK, with the style files, the beginners could do something, but just what is permitted by the style, that rapidly becomes boring (at least for me).

A sad experience : few years ago, I gave a CD with several of my AV (that you know) to the chairman of a photoclub. They were to choice a software. Some time after...  Well ?? The man replied that members had thought it was probably too complicated to use PTE, and that they had chosen another software !!

So, we have to be careful, and to explain more what we do ! Perhaps to show more easiest things to do ?

Kind regards,

Jean-Cyprien

[nelson]

Thanks for this eye opener Lin, full of inspiration and ideas!

A lot of work by you, and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kieron

[jak101]

This was a wonderful demo of some of the complex things it can do with a few simpler ones thrown in.

I am not an advanced user, so some would scare me off, at least for a while.

I think that to "sell" the program to a wider audience that ranges from the beginner to the more advanced, someone should make a professional quality series of basic and intermediate videos that show the things it could do , and then put links to some "how to do videos" that might be free. They could go from the simple to the more complex in an ascending progression. Barry has some fine ones, but most people do not want to spend extra money just to get started. That can come later. They want to get started and are not at the experimenting stage. They want to be successful right away. Put the links to the videos and demos right on the home page. Do not make people hunt.

Marketing is something that I have always thought was a weak point of this program compared to others. It is a wonderful program and I have so much to learn to be good at it. I appreciate all the help that I can get.

Just a thought.

[Lin Evans]

Thanks for the comments folks. Perhaps what I didn't say and should have is that each of the effects presented are explained in the series of free tutorials which are available on the Tutorials and Articles section of the forum. When I create or demo something which can be done with PTE, I almost alway also create a video tutorial demonstrating how it is done so that anyone who is truly interested can learn how to do the same thing. Presently there are over 60 of these free tutorials available there for download (52 individual videos and a set of 12) under the title (PTE Made Easy), These Tutorials have 65,886 views so hopefully, people who are interested have been learning those effect which they have an interest in. Link Below: 

It is a difficult thing to show people the various things possible with this software without scaring them. On the other hand, if we do not show the unique things possible with PicturesToExe and only demonstrate the ordinary, how then will the potential buyer differentiate PTE from the rest? The main competition in the US goes out of their way to create a host of flashy shows demonstrating just about everything possible with their software. Primarily these demonstrations consist of moving images about in various transparency and color and using masking to mix the effects. They make great use of audio for an impression. I suggest turning off the audio when watching one of their shows to see just how much they actually rely on the audio to impress the viewer. One may be surprised. 

So it remains a question. What is the best way to present PTE so that new potential buyers will understand why it is better than the competition and why it is consistently the choice of the vast majority of people who show in audio/visual competitions?

Almost all currently sold presentation slideshow products go after a particular segment of the market. The majority today are heavily dependent on "themes" and have minimal flexibility outside those themes. PTE and the main competition have "styles" which allow the new and unexperienced user to quickly create pleasing and professional looking shows without having to spend much time learning to use the intricacies of the software. This is a major selling point for busy professional photographers such as the wedding photographer. I believe it is an area which needs to be better exploited by Wnsoft and there are currently several users who are doing just that.

Slideshow Club is one place where there is a broad range of shows created with PTE and potential users can see the various types of presentations possible. Also the shows linked from the Wnsoft web site give the potential buyer a good idea.

I believe that the strongest selling point for PTE is the flexibility. PTE has flexibility which absolutely none of the competition can match. It's been said that the only limitation is in the mind of the user and for all practical purposes I believe this is true. Perhaps that the reason I tend to create demonstrations of what PTE can do which the other products can't do. 

Best regards,

Lin 

[Craig]

Thanks, Lin.  Your presentation makes a great case why people should invest in PTE and provides a nice summation of PTE's features and unmatched flexibility.

As Jean-Cyprien noted, even beginners can create amazing styles.  I can attest to the veracity of his statement:  just hours after downloading PTE for the first time late last month, my first project was a Rubik's cube using his own PTE style.  I was thrilled at the ease of creating such a stunning project in such a short time using my own photos!

Now, less than a month since my initial foray into PTE, I am already capable of creating many of the effects featured in your presentation and I hope to master them all soon...top of my list are the water effects shown in your video at 0:42 and 6:48.

My progress with PTE so far would not have been possible without the patient help that you and others in this forum have provided to me.  I will continue to review forum members' posts (past present and future) and consume tutorials...and no doubt will continue pestering you and other forum members for help on various aspects of PTE.

Having learned how to use so many different styles, masks, frames, animations and other features of PTE, my challenge now is to integrate all of these powerful tools into compelling presentations, such as those posted in this forum and in the French PTE websites.

All the best.

-Craig

 

[thedom]

Very impressive, congratulations !

your water effects are absolutely axesome !!

[Lin Evans]

Hi Craig - thanks and looking forward to seeing some shows from you soon!! 

Hey Dom - great to see you back and your incredible creations available again!! It's just going to get better and better with the pending release of 9.0 !!

Best regards,

Lin

[Igor]

Many thanks for your demo, Lin! 

[Tonton Bruno]

Bravo, Lin, this is really impressive !

The question is : do we need all that stuff to create a slideshow including photos and video ?

Is it vital to use a rolling cube or a globe to present our last vacations, or the an anniversary, or a wedding ?

Making any 3D animation with PTE is time consuming, a lot of time, too much time, because it is generally not something essential for the message we try to deliver through our show.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Tonton,

Of course we need none of the special effects to create a slideshow. A slideshow can consist of only simple fades and presentation of images with some appropriate background sound and perhaps comments and in with that in mind, we don't need PicturesToExe - those things can be done with doezens or even hundreds of various slideshow products - some which cost only a fraction of what top rated presentation slideshow products. 

The important issue I think is "why" top contenders in presentation slideshow competitions prefer PicturesToExe rather than using the myriad other products available? The reason, as I see it, is the incredible versatility of this product. It's really not the case that making any 3D animations is necessarily time consuming. The more of it one does, the easier it becomes. I've made conventional slideshows which have taken me days and even weeks to get exactly as I like. These shows had no 3D effects or even any special effects of any kind. But choosing the perfect music and getting the timing of background music with the proper sequence of images, placement and selection of text, etc., all took hours and sometimes days to perfect. 

What we must keep in mind is that not everyone uses PicturesToExe for the same purpose. Some use it to deliver a message through images and music while others use it to make creative art and still others for professional demonstrations or educational presentations. Each of these uses have different expectations by the audience as well as by the presenter. 

You mentioned weddings... The best selling software for that purpose in my country has dozens and perhaps with third party contributions even hundreds of "styles" and "themes" which all use a large variety of special effects. Wedding photographers buy it and use it specifically because it does have impressive animations. They are not 3D simply because the software itself doesn't have 3D capabilities, but if it did - I can absolutely guarantee you that they would be included in the myriad styles, themes.

My demonstration as explained several times, is to show things which "can" be done with PicturesToExe which "can not" be done with the competition. It not a demonstration to suggest what "should" be done in any case, only that should the user desire to do so, it is possible and really not all that time consuming or difficult to do as explained in my series of tutorials. The 3D transform capabilities of PicturesToExe are accomplished in the same simple way via menu as are the choices of pan, zoom, rotate, etc. The ability of PicturesToExe to use animated gif, control the speed of the animation, the color, etc., are all menu driven and simple to use. The ability to use chroma-key extraction is menu driven and very easy to use to incorporate thousands of easily obtainable effects.

Because these capabilities are inherent in the software doesn't mean that a user either should or should not avail themselves of the possibilities; that's a decision only the individual can make. How many users of Photoshop even have a clue as to the possibilities inherent in the software? Very few users even remotely approach the potential of myriad possibilities, but were these possibilities not there, how many people would chose Photoshop as their tool of choice over the multitude of much less expensive and much less powerful products? The reason Photoshop is the number one choice of graphical software by the professional is precisely that it offers the most choice.

So it is with PicturesToExe. There are plenty of users who demonstrate beautiful slideshows without using even a fraction of what PTE can do. But there is also a need, I believe, just as demonstrated by the developers of Photoshop, to show what "can" be done with the product should one have the need or desire to pursue esoteric presentations. So that is why I create animated 3D demonstrations. There are plenty of great examples of presentation slideshows without 3D and there is no good reason why there should not be examples with 3D animation. Then the potential buyer can see both sides of a product which offers the ultimate in "choice."

Best regards,

Lin 

[31hotshot]

how do I create these effects.also I want to mal my drawings come a live .how do I do it

[Lin Evans]

You might start with the tutorials section of this forum. There you can learn how to create effects and use different tools to include in your slideshows. It's not something which is necessarily quickly learned but "styles" have allowed those who have developed skills in creating special effects to share them with those who are just learning. 

Best regards,

Lin

[Xenofex2]

Lin,

Wow! Thankyou.

I only put together a/v's for family but this, for me, is a timely reminder of what I can be doing to improve and avoid sameness appearing.

Two questions though please. Whilst no doubt all the techniques are found within tutorials on the Forum, there were two that you showed that I would like to view and so am not sure what I should be looking for -  1) The fly walking over the revolving globe, and 2) right at the end with 'Pictures"Exe' words revolving around the globe. Obviously they are special techniques but what, please?

That latter one with the words revolving around the globe I thought would be perfect intro for a look back at past year family memories. I guess, and to show my age, it does remind us of years back in the UK the BBC News use to start with a picture of it's transmitter with the words 'BBC News' revolving around. Memories!

Thankyou again

George

 

 

[Lin Evans]

Hi George,

Give me a bit of time - perhaps a day - and I will try to find tutorials which will show you how to do those particular effects. It's actually a "spider" walking on the rotating globe. The spinning "Earth" concept with PTE began many, many years ago when I took over 600 separate PNG images of a Earth globe each with a slightly different rotation view and combined them in PTE by sequential position into a smoothly rotating globe. This was long before PTE had video capabilities. After video was included, it became much easier and faster to simply use videos of Earth spinning on its axis. Many of these I created using the freeware program called Celestia which allows the user to create videos of Earth in rotation complete with atmosphere etc. Google Celestia and you will be able to download it.

When masking and the hierarchical parent/child relationship became available with PTE it was very easy to isolate only the rotating Earth by using a circular mask so that by moving Earth and the mask simultaneously as children of an invisible frame, one could create a number of different celestial simulations. Now Photoshop with 3D capabilities allows creating other rotating planets, etc., so that myriad simulations are easily created.

As PTE continued to evolve, chroma key (green screen) extraction became possible. The walking "spider" on the rotating Earth is a chroma key extraction of a green screen walking spider video overlaid on the rotating Earth with the timing of the spider's motion adjusted with PTE's video speed capabilities to match the background music beat.

The words "PicturesToExe" circling the rotating Earth was done a numher of years ago after Dave Gould began experimenting with using invisible parent frames to allow precise positioning of individual text letters. You can thank Dave for that contribution to various effects such as the recent "wavy text" done by Manuel (MUR). Perhaps Dave has an old project he could contribute to demonstrate how the revolving text was accomplished?

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Rotate Text.ptestyle

Please apply this Style and Analyse.

DG

[Xenofex2]

Lin.

Certainly no rush.

Dave

Just tried to add that style but got the message in P2E that 'I cannot import the file. It is either damaged or created with a newer version' although just checked I am using 8.0.22

George

 

[davegee]

Sorry George,

It was created in a Version 9 Beta (quickly).

If you download the latest V9 from here and run in "Trial" mode the Style will work.

DG

 

[Xenofex2]

Dave

Thanks for the clarification. In mid project at the moment so will wait for the official release.

However I guess one learning point immediately from this is that any Slide Styles I have added (not created myself though) in Version 8 will no longer work when using Version 9?

 

George

[Lin Evans]

Hi George,

No, it's the other way around. Slide styles created in version 9 are not backwardly compatible with version 8.  Slide styles created in version 8 should work fine in version 9...

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

George,

In V9 Objects and Animation highlight all objects in the Object Pane (Click on first - Shift Cick on last) and then drag the red cursor line from left to right.

DG

[Xenofex2]

Dave

Thankyou also for that extra tip. Will put that in 'My Slide Style Tips' folder.

George

 

[MUR]

In PTE 9, it is much easier, to make animations of text or images, with the use of Modifiers.
Here is a group of examples that I have been posting in the forum.

 

MUR

Exercises_Conjunto_f.exe

[Xenofex2]

Thankyou for that link. Watching it I realised that I had seen it on the Forum. Funny really, you feature curved text but it was only when Lin put the 'What I Can Do with P2E' video together that for me a penny dropped and I made a connection with old BBC Newsreels.

Okay my slideshows are only for family but I like to think that each one is a little better than the last and with monitoring what is being said on the Forum and making more use of the 'Dummies' tutorials, I am keeping those grey cells active.

George

[Craig]

On 2/20/2017 at 2:04 PM, davegee said:

George,

In V9 Objects and Animation highlight all objects in the Object Pane (Click on first - Shift Cick on last) and then drag the red cursor line from left to right.

DG

Dave-

I love this rotating text style but am having trouble conceptualizing how to add more letters.  I see that with each of the five letters in your example, you decrease the Y rotation by 15 degrees, but I can't figure out how to position additional letters.  Sliding the red cursor line in O&A, as you suggested to George, provides a terrific overview of all the moving parts, but I am still trying to figure out how to adapt this for more text.

Any chance you can steer me in the right direction?  Your PTE styles and transitions, along with your invaluable advice, are godsends to relative newcomers like me.  Thanks!

-Craig