presentation timing off on different computers

[sdonnelly]

(i'm running pictures to exe v4.31) hello. thank you in advance for your help. it is much needed.

i've been creating a slideshow using your great software. after a lot of searching, pictures to exe turned out to be exactly what i needed. i'm creating a slide show for a wedding, using about 90 pictures and about 30 different mp3s.

there are some mp3s that are spread over as many as 10 slides and there are also some that have only one slide per mp3, varying slide appearance times from 4 seconds to 20 seconds. the first problem i ran into was that the software seemed to have a little trouble calling up so many songs so quickly. so i remedied that by joining all the mp3s into one file, using audio editing software. so now, i just have one mp3 starting with the second slide and playing through the entire 12 minute show. i've gone so far as to specify slide appearance times down to the millisecond to match the desired mp3 transition times. everything was great and i finished the show last week, as the wedding is this saturday.

but when i tried to play the exe file on other computers, the timing is all off. i won't be using my desktop (in nyc) to run the slide show for the wedding in florida. i realized that i shouldn't run the file from the burned cd, so i copied it to the other computers and that improves the synchronization. but it is still off. i run windows xp and have experimented with both computers with xp and without.

why would the exe file run differently on different computers? is the timing not precise enough? could it be a memory or processor issue? does the exe file need the software present on the computer to run properly, or might that help? would using the new version of the software fix this? can you recommend anything, anything at all that i can try??? thank you very much!

[JRR]

sdonnelly:

Welcome to PTE

We have all (well maybe I should some of us anyway) had our problems with PTE, some small, some large, many due to our lack of understanding of the teriffic software, some due to our own miscues. But we all (most?) still love it.

The timing should (is usually) the same on all computers if you use the CUSTOM SYNCH function. I know you are referring to "synch", but I am not sure you used the CUSTOM SYNCH on the MAIN tab of PROJECT OPTIONS and the TIMELINE.

If you could explain a little more how you did your synching we might be able to help you more.

Yes it is a good idea generally not to run the show from the CD drive unless you have tested it thoroughly. Some drives read slower than others. The hard drive is always a safer bet.

[Lin Evans]

The likely culprit is the video card. When a transition is timed the assumption is that the CPU, drive and video can "keep up" with the programmed speed but that's not always the case. I've had situations exactly like the one you describe where I actually timed the transitions with a stopwatch on different systems and on systems with slow hard drives and mediocre video speed the images would lag behind the sound so that the timing was off.

For example when you have a fast transition and the video can't effect that transition in the time you have programmed then defacto the sound will be ahead of the video and there is really no solution except for a faster system. The problem from a programmer's perspective is that you must have the "expectation" that the system is capable of doing what you ask in the alloted time. Unfortunately this is not always the case.

It would be ideal if you could test the show on the system you intend to use it on and if necessary install P2E on that system and adjust it accordingly. This issue is not related to PicturesToExe but common to any slideshow program which synchronizes music to images and has transiions.

Best regards,

Lin

[sdonnelly]

thank you, jim and linda, for your quick replies.

i just checked and no, i did not have "Synchronize slideshow to music duration" checked. i think i assumed that meant that it would be done automatically (even though i now see that it says 'custom' below it).

the way i did it was individually inputting the seconds and milliseconds for each slide, using the slide's "customize slide" button. so for instance, i begin with a title slide exposed for 6 seconds, followed by a slide that is set for 4 sec and 250 ms and has the music starting along with it, followed by a slide set for 7 sec and 800 ms and so on and so forth for 88 slides.

so i tried to avoid making the software synch the music with the slide transition, as i observed that to be making the music skip and produce other small errors. so i did it myself, by setting each slide time to go along with, what i made to be static, the mp3 times.

from my very basic understanding of the software, i did do a custom synchronization, and it worked (on my computer). but would it work better if i actually checked the box and used the timeline etc (which i now wish i had looked into 4 weeks ago)? i assume it would have saved me a lot of time, but would it help in this case?

from what linda is saying, it sounds like i might be out of luck anyway.

would you recommend downloading the newest version of the software and trying to make it into a movie? i have a dvd burner...

thanks again for your help

[sdonnelly]

and i apologize, lin, for referring to you as linda. no idea why i did that... think i've been staring at a computer screen for a few too many hours today...

[Conflow]

Show Synchronising

For: S Donnelly.

When you 'Free-Wheel' the Show to a Music Track - despite how well you manually synched it - it will always drift back and forth even on your own Computer.

Initially,this might not be evident to you,but if you alter or remove a Program from the Start Menu or even write a Letter, you will see the effect immediately.

The reason is simply explained,viz:- Every PC has a 'bulk-load schedule' which it processes in a finite 'time-span' measured in milliseconds and always repeating this task. Because each PC has a different and varying 'bulk-load' therefore the processing timing-spans will be different for each PC and of course PTE reflects this immediately.

However when one uses PTE Auto-Synchronisation - 'timing marks' are imposed on the Show Time-Line. The PC see's these as a 'priority instruction set' and processes the Show accordingly even on external PC's. The PTE Custom-Synch Utility is similar in action, except in this case, you decide where the 'timing marks' are positioned.

I hope this simple explaination beats a path through the 'Synchro Confusion'

Brian.Conflow.

[JRR]

I think using the Custom SYnch will solve your problems.

You should use the latest version of PTE as there have been many features added, particuallry with regards the TIMELINE in Custom Synch

Making it into a DVD is up to you, lots of people do. You'll need extra software to do it.

There is another PTE forum that deals with "DVDing"

Click here to go to it

[sdonnelly]

ok, i will download the newest version and use the custom synch options. but should i now go back to using separate mp3 files instead of the one long mp3 that i made joining all the separate mp3s?

also, could the file size of the pictures play a role? they are all between 500kb and 1MB.

thanks,

shawn

[Lloegyr]

Hi Shawn

Custom Synch

1 MP3

Keep Images sizes to a max of 200Mb (makes a big difference and quality is excellent)

Mike

Mersea Island

England

[Lloegyr]

Sorry Shawn

200Kb I meant

Mike

Mersea Island

England

[JRR]

Mike:

Thanks for the "minor" clarification

200kb is certainly a good guideline, I tend to go up towards 300kb when I have night shots with scattered clouds that reflect the city lights, or smoke from fireworks. I found if I didn't the image shows many artifacts when projected. It shows on the computer screen a little, but really shows when projected to a large screen

[sdonnelly]

another basic question:

so i've made low res versions of all the photos so they are all under 200kb. i've also downloaded v4.41 and am using that now to try and implement the synchronization. previously, i had the 2nd slide customized and that was the slide opening and starting the music (the one mp3 file) that plays throughout the entire slide show. but with the custom synchronization, it doesn't recognize the song that's called up from the 2nd slide and wants me to direct it to the mp3 file from the main project options.

the problem there is that the music starts with my title slide, whereas i want it to start with my second slide. i don't immediately see a way to delay the music in the timeline or move when the music starts. does the music have to start at the start of the first slide or can i position it in the timeline to start with the 2nd transition?

help!

thanks!

shawn

[Conflow]

Shawn,

I just posted details as to why you were getting 'slipping synchronisation' - did you read it ?

Now I note that you are trying to start the Music from the 2nd Slide with 'Custom Synch'

You probably don't realise that PTE can handle multiple 'Sound Tracks' and ever overlay them.

1)

You can make an MP3 to play as the 'entire' Background Music File - simply add the track to the

Show with the Music Tab on the Main Control Screen.

2)

Alternately you could 'add' a Sound Track to any Slide through its own Customisation Window.

3)

You can 'add' Silence to the start of the main Background Music Track whereas you may need

to insert a commentary on Slide.1. without interference from the Background Music. In fact you

can insert...silence...anywhere within the Timeline to facilitate another Sound.

Hope this simply explains the 'whys and wherefores' of the PTE Sound Utilities.

Brian.Conflow.

[sdonnelly]

yes, brian. i did read the post about the bulk load schedule etc. thank you for your continued help.

i'm just trying to do it the best i can using the timeline and custom synch right now. but what do you mean by adding silence? how do i do that? do you just mean adding an mp3 of nothing to the top of the list of background music, or is there a way to actually add silence using pte?

shawn

[DaveG]

Using your audio editor (I use AUDACITY) you can create a library of "silent" MP3 files of 2sec, 5sec, 10sec etc for future use. Alternatively and preferably, the length of silence you require could be introduced into your single MP3 file.

Bear in mind that, as with JPEGs, if you re-open your original MP3 and save it again you apply more compression. I think I am right in saying that you should always start with your original WAV files when editing to produce the final MP3. If I am wrong about that I am sure the kind people here will correct me.

DaveG

[alrobin]

Dave,

You're absolutely right. And when you save your pte project file and images for future modifications to your show, you should always save the original wave files for your mp3's as well.

If you start with mp3's you should always convert them to wave files first, work on them, and save them as wave files as well as mp3's, in case you want to go back and make changes.

[Conflow]

To:- DaveG and Shawn,

Hi Dave & Shawn,

You're dead right Dave about Mp3's and JPegs - they are both 'lossy compression' systems

and the more you...'Save As'....the more you are compressing them and eroding them.

Mpegs

If you want to work in and 'preserve' MPegs you really need the 'Lossless Mp3.Pro Encoder'

which costs money but you can import it into a Sound Editor such as 'Audacity' which is free.

Shawn, you really need a Sound Editor to do what you want, Audacity is 'free' and very good.

Another is the 'Nero Sound Editor' - its superb, it's lossless, it comes with Mp3.Pro Encoder and

VU Sound Meters - its probably the finest semi-pro product out there. Costs about 50 Euro.

JPegs

There are special 'Lossless' JPeg Editors available (non-compresssors) but they have serious

problems with Script Fonts...really not worth the hassle. Better to do all your pre-edit work in

a program such as 'Paint.NET' - its Microsofts version of Photoshop - its free.

Also consider Pre-Editing in GIF Images rather than JPeg - then when you are ready, convert

the lot to JPegs - Audacity will do that for you.

Brian.Conflow.

[sdonnelly]

well, after many hours re-doing the slideshow using the timeline and custom synchronization, IT WORKED on other computers (as well as mine). i won't be able to run it on the computer being used for the wedding slide show in florida until friday. but it seems that it should be working and synchronized properly now for all computers.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP, REPLIES AND ADVICE!

sincerely,

shawn donnelly

[Conflow]

Shawn Donnelly,

Best of luck with the Project on Friday ~

Brian.Conflow.