Can't get demo show to play

[Tim Z]

Hello, this is my first post here. I have installed the demo version of PicturesToExe and have loaded in the max 10 images and selected an MP3 for the music. I haven't gone into any customizing features yet as I just want to demo a simple show first.

When I hit the preview button, the music starts to play and the first image comes up for about 1.5 seconds, and then the program freezes and crashes. So I then created a .exe file and when I execute that file the exact same freeze/crash happens. When I check windows task manager it says the program is not responding, and the only way I can get out now is to "end task".

I build my own pcs and maintain a very well tweaked and powerful system. Any ideas what could be causing this? So far I like the program and would like to purchase, but naturally only if I can get it to work properly.

System is:

Intel D875PBZ mobo

P4 2.8 800fsb

1024 Dual Optimized OCZ RAM

Three 120 GIG WD 7200 RPM IDE Drives

Two 200 GIG Seagate SATA drives

LiteON 811s DVD Burner

Any insight is appreciated.

t

[Guest Techman1]

Tim,

Welcome to the forum. Try the demo without any music file and see if it still freezes or if it works okay, try a different MP3 file. You have more than enough power on your PC, heck I wish mine were that beefy!

Let us know what you find out.

Good luck!

Fred

[Ronniebootwest]

Maybe you have included photo files that are just too large! Use only jpeg files and NOT tiff or psd.

When making the slides for your show (in Photoshop) keep the jpeg quality to 6 or 7.

Let us know what file size you have been using up to now.

Ron West

[Tim Z]

Thanks guys

The slides are all jpegs and are created and saved with Photoshop 8.0 at quality 7. Average size for each file is about 115 KB.

Music used is an MP3 made of a classical guitar player that I recorded in my own recording studio.

All MP3's and jpegs work perfectly in Microsoft's Photo Story 3.

When I try to preview or play the show with the MP3 removed, it comes up with a message saying "Playlist is empty. Please add musical files". So it appears that I can't play it without the MP3 in there?

I tried it with two other MP3's and got the same results

t

[alrobin]

Tim,

Welcome to the Forum!

The program will sometimes crash if you have added an image object in Object Editor, and then moved the object file so that PTE can't find it. Try stripping out all of the objects used, and also uncheck "Project Options / Synchronize slideshow".

[Tim Z]

Thanks Al

Well, I did have an image in the Object Editor, but I definitely had not move its location. Anyway, I removed that image and tried again, but the program still crashes.

Next I went in and unchecked the "Synchronize slideshow" option, and again it still crashes.

It opens up to the first image, plays for a second or so, and then freezes.

This is a real bummer, as I am liking the looks of this program, and hate the idea of having to continue using Photo Story.

t

[ContaxMan]

Would you find it helpful if I sent you a zipped folder containing some images and the pte file of a show that works to test on your system?

[Tim Z]

Sure Roger, that may be helpful to at least confirm that a full show with sound will play here.

I did make some headway with it this afternoon. I deleted all files I had created with the demo and then rebuilt a new show. Once I had 10 images in there, I hit "preview" and all ten slides played perfectly. I then added an MP3 now to see if it would work with the music, and again the program froze and crashed. However, this time I was able to remove the MP3 and have the slides show again. So it appears to be something to do with the adding of music (MP3s). I tried 4 different MP3's all at 128 kbs, and PTE froze with each one. Is it possible that the program cannot handle certain MP3 rates (i.e. 128 kbs)?

t

[Conflow]

Tim,

You mention that you make your own 'Sound Recordings' ~ but in what Format ?

Do you subsequently convert the Master Recording Format to Mp3 Format ?

If you are using an Mp3 as a 'Background Track' it must be contineous without

'micro-breaks' which often occur in Editing.

Suggest you run the BM.Track through a Sound Editor like Audacity or Nero Editor and

check for 'micro-breaks'...if you need any 'breaks' its best to insert a 'Silence Track' and

maintain the Tag data ~ Audacity can do that !

Hope this helps,

Brian.Conflow.

[Tim Z]

Hi Brian

Not sure what you mean by "micro breaks", but I am pretty sure my MP3's do not have any. I run a small recording studio here, where I record my own music as well as other local artists. I make my (very) humble living from my recording studio and my photography sales/royalties.

All music in my studio is originally recorded in Samplitude at 32bit/44.1khz wave files, which is then mixed, mastered and dithered down to 16/44.1 wave files for CD format. I only compress some music to MP3 using an MP3 decoder that is based on the "LAME" encoder system. The LAME system is generally considered to be the best MP3 encoder available today. My MP3s work flawlessly in every other application I have encountered. I can pretty well assure you that the MP3 code is not the problem here. But to make sure, I will try an MP3 made from another source.

Besides, why does the whole show (music and all) work with every other slide show program I have tried? So far, PTE is the only one that crashes and will not play the show with music (here).

t

[Conflow]

Hi Tim,

Yep, I know the Lame Encoder and Frauendorfer and others, because like you I have been in the Audio Business for far too long ~

The reason for my suggestion about 'micro-breaks' in your BM.Timeline, is that ~ Most domestic Mp3 and CD/WAV Players can tolerate 'micro-breaks' up to some 75millesecs, beyond that, say 100-300millesecs of "nothing just space" (loss of data track) then things tend to lock-up and they refuse to continue to Play that Track. Worse still they just sit there doing nothing.

In my experience I have found that many PCs' simply refuse to continue on having encountered a Music 'micro-break' ~ even more so, when they are rendering Graphics & Music simultaneously.

It may be your problem and I was simply suggesting to have a look in that direction ~ by the way have you tried a CD-Track extract with the Graphics ?

Brian.Conflow.

[Tim Z]

Thanks again Brian

Some of the MP3's I am using were made with the Frauendorfer encoder, and others with the LAME and others internally with Samplitude. They all fail in PTE!

I just cannot see this micro break thing being the issue here. I have tried many different MP3's now with my demo show, and every one freezes at about 1 to 2 seconds into the show. That would suggest that every MP3 I have on file has a micro break at the 1 to 2 second point. If PTE has that much difficulty with these MP3's, when no other program I have encountered does, then unfortunately PTE is definitely not for me.

How about you email me an MP3 that you know for sure has no micro breaks, and I'll test it with my demo show?

Keep in mind that i just installed the PTE demo yesterday. I have no idea what "have you tried a CD-Track extract with the Graphics" means?

t

[alrobin]

Tim,

Are you able to play others' slide shows on your system? I have a couple on my website you could download, and there are several other websites around offering free downloads, as well. One notable one is Beechbrook Cottage. Most of these use mp3 music files.

[Tim Z]

Good Call Al. I downloaded one of the smaller shows from the Beechbrook Cottage site (Le Bayou), and it won't play here either. It opens up and plays about 2 seconds and then freezes.

I can't for the life of me figure out what could be the problem here though. My system ( a dual boot XP set-up) is well maintained, tweaked to perfection and works flawlessly with every other app I use with it. This would suggest that there is something about the settings or devices on my system that don't jive with PTE. Like I said I use this system for a recording studio and it has to be powerful, fast and (most importantly) reliable for that purpose. It has never caused me any problems like this with any other software.

Anyone have any ideas what could be the culprit?

Does PTE tech support ever read or post in here? Or should I send them an email with this problem?

t

[Ken Cox]

tim

for you sound files, is your default player set to WMP

or do you have one of your own choosing set as default

try un checking it

ken

[DaveG]

Welcome Tim,

I believe you are the Tim whose m/c also wanted you to install Quicktime when you loaded the demo version of P2E?

It sounds as though your m/c is the culprit in all of this.

I would certainly try running your ten slides with a silent soundtrack to enable you to use the timeline. That way you can ensure that your settings do not give you overlapping slides and haven't done something silly there. Silent files are easy to make in AUDACITY.

Bottom line, though, it sounds like your "tweaked to perfection" m/c is maybe a tad too tweaked?

You ask if Admin ever look in - see the "Is Quicktime Required" thread.

Best wishes,

DaveG

[Conflow]

To:- Tim,

Having read your last Post it looks to me that it's something else rather than 'Micro-Breaks' in the BM.Track.

1) When I say try a short excerpt from any CD-Music Disc ~why not copy a CD-Track as a WAV File and try that out with your PTE Test Show ~ it seems a logical thing to do ?

2 Following down from what Ken Cox and Dave.G just wrote and the fact that your PC seems to be 'ultra-fast' ~ I am just beginning to wonder is it the case that your 'Memory Buffer Time' is simply too short for PTE.

3) Personally I would try a WAV File in place of the MP3 and see what happens ??[/U]

Brian.Conflow.

P.S

I know this is no consolation,but there are nearly 1500 Members signed up to this Forum and I can't recall any Member with this particular problem which seems "unique" to your PC. So don' give up just yet, lets try and get to the bottom of it. PTE is well worth every effort put into it.

[Tim Z]

Dave, with all due respect, my pc is not a "tad too tweaked". PTE is the first and only application that has given me problems on this pc. Trust me, I do know what I am doing. I build all of my pc's from scratch and do complete installs and troubleshooting for others on their pcs. My pc would not be so reliable and trouble free in my recording studio if it was "too tweaked". Handling recording studio duties is a MILLION times more demanding and finicky compared to running a simple slide show program. I will agree that there appears to be some incompatibility between my system and PTE, but IMHO PTE is at fault here, and I am just lucky enough to have the one mysterious problem that no one else has come across yet.

And I also do not appreciate the tone of people here thinking that I was bs'ing about the Quicktime message. I don't just imagine messages popping up. It DID show up when I did the first install, but not for the second.

I appreciate all the advice and help, but I have had enough with this program. The PTE demo has already been uninstalled and all remaining PTE registry files cleaned from my system. There are so many other choices that I don't need this headache. Plus, I would have expected PTE tech support to chime in and help out a potential customer. If Photo Story 3 works instantly for me, and has the move/zoom features that PTE does not, I will stick with that simple free program until I can find one that has better features and is more reliable.

regards

t

[Tim Z]

FWIW, I just loaded in the demo for ProShow Gold, and within minutes had a basic slide show working perfectly, including sound (same MP3s) and motion effects. Now this is what I was looking for, even with the higher price tag. This appears to be one very well thought out program.

There are a couple of things I like better about the PTE UI, but I will probably spend the extra $$$ for the ease of use and "actual" working ProShow program.

Have fun

t

[Ken Cox]

Tim

you never said whether you tried my suggestion

and please post the forum addie for

ProShow Gold

last time myself and another had a problem with them the company told us if you have 2 burning programs on your system we cannot help you - bye bye - and that was way before dvd's were on the scene for the average Joe burning vcd/svcd's

i wonder if that is still the case

ken

[Ronniebootwest]

TimZ. Hi!

I feel for you, I know how frustrating it all can be when things don't go quite as you expect them to. A pity uou appear to have given up on PTE - I think that you might be missing out on the best Audio Visual package currently available. I have tried ProShow Gold and found that it just did not compare to PTE in spite of its gimmicks. I agree with Ken, they are very unhelpful when things go wrong.

Maybe you just had a bad download with Wnsoft - did you try re-installing from scratch? Anyway, not to worry, you seem to have made up you mind. Good luck with Proshow, but remember that you are always welcome back here if you so decide.

Ron West

[Tim Z]

Thanks Ron and Ken

Well the plot has thickened. At first my shows were performing perfectly in ProShow Gold, but now the exact same problem has come up. I can watch the shows without music, but as soon as I add music, it will not work properly. TO make things even stranger, the same PTE.exe files will not play on my other pc, nor on my wife's pc. So this would suggest that there is something getting corrupted when I create the file, rather than something on my pc that won't allow it to play.

As I say these photo shows are the only problems I have ever encountered on my system. I also downloaded some of the samples and they would not play either.

The only thing I can think of is that I do not have what would be considered a "typical" soundcard in my system. I have a professional RME Digi9652, which is a 24 channel digiital lightpipe recording card. It also has S/PDIF. I have the S/PDIF outputs sent to a Benchmark DAC-1 which is a really high quality D/A converter. Grasping at straws here, but maybe these slide show programs are looking for a consumer soundcard or something. Although that would not explain why they don't work on my wife's pc, which does have a consumer soundcard.

This is definitely a very strange one.

Ken, yes I did try your suggestion, The only device I have is the Digi9652 which is where my audio is routed to. I can't think of anywhere else to check. Where were you thinking of?

Well I guess it is different strokes for different folks with the move and zoom features. For me they take a show from being just a basic slide show to a mood creating professional show. IMHO there is no comparison, but if PTE plans to add these in the near future I won't rule it out, assuming I can get it to work in the first place.

Here is a link to a simple show I created with 10 images and music. Let me know if anyone can play this on their system.

PTE TEST

t

[Ken Cox]

tim played fine for me -- beauty

but the forum crashed

please send me your email

ispent 1/2 hr typing maybe an answer and it is all lost

ken

pbyk@sympatico.ca

[Ken Cox]

tim played fine for me -- beauty

but the forum crashed

please send me your email

ispent 1/2 hr typing maybe an answer and it is all lost

ken

pbyk@sympatico.ca

[Tim Z]

Email sent Ken

t