Where to start

[RCRA]

I am a complete novice when it comes to AV, and want to put together a couple of hundred images including a mixture of 6 shot panoramas,  landscape,  portrait and square format shots together with map screenshots and slides with information about the subjects.

After watching a number of Barry's excellent videos, I purchased the software and created a simple mp4 file and realised the error of my ways!   AI does not resize non 16 x 9 images and a lot more user input will be required from me .

I have searched the forum with the term "beginner" and browsed Barry's You tube playlists but have not been able to find a step by step guide to getting started, which is what I probably need to do.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or suggest a book which would guide me?

I would eventually like to add audio, but just getting the visuals would be a start.

[Rosemary A]

Hi RCRA. Welcome to the forum. If it is any consolation I was in the same boat as you. Don't despair and post lots of questions. May I suggest Barry Beckhams video "Lets make a Slideshow" It walks you through the basics. I find it helpful to have the tutorial on another devise so I can stop the tutorial whilst I carry out the instruction. Good luck.

Rosemary

https---www.google.com-search-q=barry+beckham+let%27s+make+a+slideshow+with+music&rlz=1C1CHBD_enCA850CA850&oq=Barry+Beckhan+L.url

[jkb]

Also see the Online Help files  https://docs.pteavstudio.com/

You can easily resize images by going into Objects & Animation (O&A) and when an Object is selected you will see the Grab Handles around it.
Simply drag these with your mouse to resize as needed.

If you have several images all the same size then you can use the Quick Slide Style.
Do the first Manually, then 'Create Quick Style', Select all the other images & 'Apply Quick Style' and they will be resized accordingly.

PTE is a great program, very easy to get started but extremely powerful allowing you to do anything you can imagine.

Jill

 

[davegee]

With regard to non 16x9 images in a 16x9 project you can use "Cover Screen" instead of the default "Fit to Screen". Some adjustment up or down might be needed to get the composition that you want. In some cases it might be possible to "squash" your images from 3x2 into the 16x9 format without causing any visual problem.

https://docs.pteavstudio.com/en-us/11.0/objectsandanimation_1/properties_tab?s[]=fit&s[]=screen#common

[SeismicGuy]

Welcome RCRA.  I understand completely and have to agree that PTEAV is not the easiest app to jump into and start creating on day one.  I had been using a more intuitive piece of slideshow software for a number of years but that went out of business which is why I transitioned to PTE.  PTEAV is extremely powerful and you really need to get into the weeds and play around with all of the features and effects.  Watching Barry's videos was a great help as well as posting questions on this forum.  My shows are limited to vacation travelogues so obviously I am not using PTEAV on a regular basis so sort of have to relearn things every time I use it. 

[Barry Beckham]

Name me an App that anyone can jump into and start creating on day one and I’ll show you an App not worth having.

[RCRA]

OK, after a month in which my NAS drive with 65,000 images died and had to be replaced, I'm back on the case.

As a camera club member I have been used to cropping images during post processing to any size that removes distracting elements and helps simplify the composition concentrating the attention to what I am trying to show the viewer. We run 5 print competitions per annum, so apertures in the mount can be cut to suit any aspect ratio that I end up with. My first take away is that I will bear in mind the 16:9 aspect ratio and where possible produce a virtual copy in LR that is more slideshow friendly!

I am currently exploring what the various options look like and adding them all into a slideshow so that I can compare them and try to understand what works and what doesn't. When cropping an image that was intended to be viewed in a 9:16 aspect ratio you get something entirely different if cropped to 16:9.  I am exporting the slides and pasting them into an annotated document so that I can refer back to this process and the various options, in the future, hopefully at some point I will become familiar enough to just intuitively know without having to check my notes. (It's taken me 5 years to understand the basics of LR & PS already).

I am also at the point where not knowing the terminology means I struggle to search for the help I am seeking. For example I have seen a Barry Beckham video in which he adds the same portrait image of a dog rotated and overlaid to fill the frame, but not knowing what the technique is called means I cannot find it again.

Barry's website is full of valuable links, but at the moment they are inaccessible due to me not knowing what I should be looking for or where. I have to say that I had almost the same problem with LR & PS albeit using the Adobe classroom in a book indexes).

Even when using the search term Ken Burns with the "PTE AV Studio 11" folder highlighted in Yellow, yielded  "No results".  I must be getting something wrong somewhere

My question is: Is there an  index somewhere that can assist me to locate the help files and videos that will get me moving on my journey?

[jkb]

I must admit I have never had any success with the Search function.
There is a list of contents in the Online Help  https://docs.pteavstudio.com/

I know it is difficult to ask the right questions as at this stage you don't know, what you don't know!
As to aspect ratio it depends what you are trying to achieve with your shows.

Do you simply want to show your individual images to some music, or are you trying to tell a story.

If it is simply to showcase your images, then don't worry too much about aspect ratio, composition etc.

If you are trying to make a pleasing show that has a narrative and one image blends into the next, then it is best to have all of your images the same size. Otherwise the viewer will be looking at the edges rather than the content.
 

You can easily adjust sizes in O&A (Objects & Animation) simply drag the image using the grab handles to the size & position you want.
It is the opposite of Photoshop in that it will keep the aspect ratio. To change & just adjust in one dimension then Hold Down Shift as you drag.

PTE does an excellent job of upsizing if the original aspect ratio is not what you want.
You are looking to line up horizons, angles, shapes so that they flow from one to another.

To rotate an image put the cursor just outside a corner grab handle so you get a bent arrow & drag.
To flip it is easier to use the Rotate X or Rotate Y modifier & set it to 180.

Most of PTE is very intuitive (unlike Photoshop) and you are not affecting the actual image by making any changes. Everything is virtual.
So just play in O&A changing different things until you get used to what each thing does.
There is always the Undo button & unlike Photoshop it is not limited to a set number.
Or just close the Project & don't Save.

Don't worry about Terminology or Technique at this stage, just practice. Most of all have fun & enjoy experimenting.

And come back & ask if you need help.
No question is a silly one.

Jill

 

[RCRA]

"I know it is difficult to ask the right questions as at this stage you don't know, what you don't know!"  - Too right! as Donald Rumsfeld said there are Known Unknowns as well as Unknown unknowns!

 

OK so what I am presently trying to do is to show the same image twice or maybe three times slightly rotated,  on a slide that has a fairly nondescript background. The idea is shown in this YT clip (which just showcases the technique but is not a tutorial that shows how it is done) . When I first came to this about a month ago I watched a dozen or so of Barry's excellent videos. In one I'm sure he demonstrated how you have one image file but copy and place it several times within one slide (in effect if I understand it of just having a layout in the program that uses the same image file in more than one placeholder position). Would you be so kind as to tell me what this technique is called so I can try to find it in the online help?

I have searched back through my history, but try as I might, without settling down to severaI hours of re-watching I cannot locate the one I need and hoped I'd be able to create the effect from the online help

thank you

 

[jkb]

51 minutes ago, RCRA said:

hoped I'd be able to create the effect from the online help

Ok to do this is easy - There is no specific name to the Technique.

Basically - as it will be better for you to do it yourself rather than have exact step by step instructions.

Add your background image to the SlideList (the slides along the bottom in the main window)

Click on that image & then Click O&A (Objects & Animation)

This where almost everything is done.

You will see your background image & this should be highlighted in the Object Panel (bottom right)

Click off this  & click in a blank area below it, so it is no longer selected (the grab handles around the image will dissapear)

Click Add Image - Menu bar top left - picture of an image - hover over each icon & you will see what it is

Navigate to find the portrait image you want to add, select it & click Open

This image will now appear on top of the background image

Using the grab handles rotate & size it how you want. (or you can use the Animation Tab to change the Rotate, Zoom (Size) & Position properties

In the Properties Tab of O&A you can also add a Border, choosing it's colour & width

Once again click off this Image (object) in the Object Panel so that nothing is highlighted & repeat the steps to add another image as required.

 

In the Objects Panel each image name should appear one on top of the other - like Layers in Photoshop
You can adjust the Opacity of each item in the Animation Tab by changing the value in Opacity if you want to.
If you want to change the order of the images  so that a different one is on top, then simply drag the Object Name up or down

If the Object Names appear indented one below the other, then you didn't click off & deselect an Object before you added the next one.
Simply click & drag the name to move it in the Object List.

 

Hope this helps. As I said just play & see what happens.

Jill

[davegee]

RCRA - Do you have a first name? It will make it easier

Firstly, you will not find such things as "Placeholder" in the Online Help (OH). It is not really a PTE AV concept. It applies more to that other Slide Show software. 

To search the OH you would probably do well to look at this page - https://docs.pteavstudio.com/en-us/11.0/searchtips/main

The other page which seeks to help you use PTE AV terminology is here - https://docs.pteavstudio.com/en-us/11.0/main-window_1/terminology

Also look at the rest of the MAIN WINDOW sections. The OH is not really a "HOW TO" as such, it seeks to acquaint the user with the various different sections of the Software.

For your question about the three images set at differing angles you need to know how to add images, to use the Zoom, Pan and Rotate controls and then how to use the Key Frames to be able to animate your images. I would also suggest that a firm grounding in the use of the FRAMING control would help to be able to zoom your images within a frame. https://docs.pteavstudio.com/en-us/11.0/how_to_v9/framing?s[]=framing

DG

[RCRA]

Thanks to you both, I've been at this for 10 hrs and am throwing in the towel for today. I will crack on bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow. My name is Ray, RCRA are my initials .

Jill -  "Ok to do this is easy" - closest emoji I could find to a wry look of puzzlement!

Dave - "that other Slide Show software" - I haven't used any other software apart from Pro show producer, which I bought, used once and abandoned as it was pre-retirement. Not sure where "placeholder" even came from, but it seemed like the right word to help explain my aim.

 

I look forward to following up on both your answers tomorrow - thanks again

Ray

 

PS: just thought of another related question, but I believe it would be better put in the general forum so as to keep this thread from widening

 

 

 

[RCRA]

18 hours ago, jkb said:

Ok to do this is easy - There is no specific name to the Technique.

Basically - as it will be better for you to do it yourself rather than have exact step by step instructions.

Add your background image to the SlideList (the slides along the bottom in the main window)

 

18 hours ago, jkb said:

OK here it is - just what I wanted to do, it is only in the slideshow to provide a counterpoint to the "real image" which was a 2 minute long exposure of the same scene

thanks for the help

 

[jkb]

53 minutes ago, RCRA said:

thanks for the help

Well done on getting this far. It will all get easier

Jill

[mhwarner]

Go to Barry Beckham's free styles and themes for PT-AV-Studio page. 

Styles & Themes – Beckham Digital

There are a number of "triptych" styles (and many others) that you can download.  Bring the styles into the program and examine them a bit.  This is a very easy way to get started in learning how to do more complicated things in PT-AV-Studio.  Once you understand how they work, you can modify them to suit your own purposes rather than trying to start from scratch and figuring it all out on your own.  There are many other styles and templates posted on this forum, mostly under the Section "Styles and Templates".  There are often demos of the styles so you can determine whether they might be useful to you.