What's happening "under the hood?"

[Truelight]

Question --If I decide to make a PTE show which synchronizes the slides to the music duration, how can I see how long each slide will be displayed for??

Let's use an example -- What we want to know is how long each slide will be displayed - Solve for "X" where X = Individual slide duration

(Remember...We're talking about checking the box that says "Synchronize slide show to music duration -- NOT a Customized synchronization) In theory, each slide duration will be the same length.

Let's say I have a music track I will be using which is exactly 3:00 minutes long (which is 180 seconds, right?). Now, I have 70 slides I want to show and I want a 1 second transition time between each. So... with the calculator I see that --

180 / 70 = 2.57 sec. for each slide duration. But that doesn't figure in the 1 second transition time, so we also must factor that in. 1 sec x 70 transitions = 70 sec.

Now, to have the show work so that the music and the slides end at the same time we must also factor in the transition times. If I understand correctly, PTE must be using a formula like this -- (Remember ...we've solving for "X" here which is Individual slide duration)

(Music Length) = (Number of slides x individual slide duration) + (Number of transitions x individual slide transition time)

Now to plug in our example numbers --

(180 seconds) = (70 x X) + (70 x 1)

so....(still with me?)

180 seconds = (70 x X) + (70)

or

180 seconds = (70 x 1.57) + (70)

180 seconds = 109.9 + 70

180 seconds = 179.999 (close enough, yes?) X (or individual slide duration) = 1.57 sec.

Because PTE can take a music track and a collection of slides and make them end at the same time, it must use a formula something like this (and likely even more sophisticated to compensate for other issues) and be calculating "X" - The Individual Slide Duration!

So.... why keep this number a secret??!! PTE has calculated it... let's see it!!

Using these same numbers, if I saw that my slides were only going to display for 1.57 each, I might decide to use fewer slides or pick a longer music track. It might also be nice if PTE would display an error message if I had decided I wanted a 2 sec transition and because my slide duration could only be 1.57 that I'd created an impossible scenario.

Perhaps I'm the kind of "driver" that want to see a bit of what's going on "under the hood." PTE needs some "dashboard gauges" so we can better see what's going on. (and we haven't even discussed a formula which calculates custom synched shows!!)

There is a simple solution... (at least for the guy who doesn't have to program it... grin) is to allow a right-mouse click on the gray bar(s) on the timeline which represent the slide duration, to show the duration time and the same right-click on the gaps between each slide (the transition time) to show that information.

Lacking that... how about something that would print out the "Show script" which might look like this:

Slide 1 - Duration X seconds

Transition 1 - Type - Dissolve - Time X seconds

Slide 2 - Duration X seconds

Transition 2 - Type - Rectangle to center - Time X seconds

etc.

etc.....

To give credit where it is due... PTE goes MUCH, MUCH further than any other program of it's kind in allowing customization. Many programs like this are template based... simple, but hardly flexible. So... how'd 'bout it WnSoft? Can you add some "gauges to the dashboard" or at least a printout of "engine performance?" We know you've built a hot-rod here, but for those of us who want to "race-tune" it, we need a bit of help.

[JRR]

Truelight

Get a copy of Alrobin's ADJUSTOR.

I think it will give you what you want

Look for the post with the red heart.

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...ct=ST&f=2&t=374