Reassurance

[JEB]

I have very recently downloaded the trial version of PTE having heard good reports and would like some reassurance before committing to this route. My interest is in producing slide shows primarily for digital projection but also TV both preferably via DVD. I have been dabbling in AV slide shows for some time having come from PowerPoint through Opus, Roxio and most recently Ulead VideoStudio 9 (acquired for a specific Video need but used latterly for slide shows). What concerns me at the moment is the separation of audio (music, voice, background effects) and titles from the main programme. What attracts me is this source of common interest and specialist help.

[Ken Cox]

Jeb

welcome to the forum

do you have a specific question?

have you seen any of the show's that are done by members

ken

[JEB]

Jeb

welcome to the forum

do you have a specific question?

have you seen any of the show's that are done by members

ken

Ken,

At this point in time I would be interested in users views as to what in their view makes PTE a better option than "all in" products such as Studio 9.

I have one other particular issue regarding resolution/projection which I will take up on another thread that is prenently running.

If I continue down the PTE route as I think is likely no doubt I will have other questions.

Thanks for your interest.

JEB

[Conflow]

Hi JEB,

My apology if I am incorrect, but your broad based question is really a request to Members to compare 'Pictures to Exec' to other Products you have used in the past. As you are trying out the "Trial Version" of PTE for yourself ~ why not ask 'specific questions' and reach your own conclusions ??

At least that would familiarise you with the 'ins & out' of the product and give grounds for genuine questions which the Forum Members would gladly answer.

Brian.Conflow.

[ronwil]

Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but the vast majority of the digital AV entries in the bi-annual International and National AV Festivals in the UK are produced using PTE. Surely that must be high enough recommendation. Take the plunge and commit yourself to this route. I am sure you won't regret it. Welcome to the forun JEB.

Ron [uK]

[jevans]

Hi JEB,

YOur questions are interesting since I have gone down the same route as you appear to be doing. Here is my experience for what it is worth. Initially I was only interested in producing shows to burn onto DVD to show on a TV. I use Studio 8 and find it a great program. However last year I joined a local photographic club and found that everyone was using PTE and shows were projected using a digital projector. When I compared my DVD show with a PTE show, the PTE projected quality was miles better than the DVD.

So then I started to use Studio 8 for DVD shows and PTE for projected shows. However this is a pain since you have to do two versions. Although I like the multiple track feature of Studio 8 ( slides, music, commentary tracks), the ability to move audio files along the track to match the images and the ability to pan and zoom, I am abandoning Studio 8 and only using PTE. What I do is this : I make up my slide show with all the images, effects, text slides etc and make sure that it runs the way I want. I then add an empty music file which allows you to use the Timeline feature in PTE. Then I record my commentary files (I use Adobe Audition 1.5 but any good sound editor will do), placing each commentary file at the correct time location for the relevant slide. I then attach the commentary files to the relevant files. Finally I choose the music and control the amplitude in Audition to match the commentary. I then replace the empty music files with the final version of the music file. I now have a completed PTE project which I can use for projection OR, I can burn a DVD using Ulead Movie Factory.

The only downside of this approach is I no longer have the pan/zoom feature of Studio 8. The upside is that I only have to do the show once, there is great support for PTE (this forum is really good) and PTE is much less resource intensive than Studio 8 ( I have a good spec computer but Studio 8 seems to take ages to do anything if the show has a large number of images.

I can give you some other comments about the resolution to use for your slides if you go down this route.

Hope this helps.

jevans

[JEB]

Thank you all for your responses.

Ron, if PTE is good enough for such illustrious bodies then it must be good enough for a novice like me!

Jevans, your response is just what I was hoping for. I felt sure there must be someone out there who was coming from the same direction as myself. Your solution on the synchronising of audio tracks is encouraging. I’m not sure that I totally understand it at this point in time, but as Brian points out, I have hardly explored the package to date.

In time, I will take you up on the resolution topic, as this is something that also interests me. I have actually raised a related issue concerning resolution and projection/DVD elsewhere in the forum.

Thank you all.

John, JEB

[stonemason]

Hi Jeb my route to PTE was after trying Proshow Gold. In my opinion PTE is better for exe file slide shows being more controllable and producing better and smoother transisions. However if you require TV viewable output ie VCD DVD then these are far easier to achive using ProShow Gold. I know that in the fullness of time Igor will address this problem, and make this type of output far easier than it is at present. Having said all this PTE is a great programme and is capable of producing first class results, and I strongly urge you to test it fully before moving to other software. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed.

Best regards

stonemason

[stonemason]

sorry double post