Rafting the Futaleufu...

[goddi]

I am a bit amazed that my 'Rafting the Futaleufu' had now over 300 downloads. I am wondering if there are any critiques by anyone who has seen it. My feeling was that it was a bit too long for someone who was not there but I did not want to leave out any of the sequence of rapids for those of who were there. I sent the link to 12 of the people who were participants. But I'd like to know if anyone has any 'should of' or 'shouldn't have' comments. Thanks... Gary

[ronwil]

Gary

Your show contained some good images and was well put together. It illustrated the event but, as you suggested, is of more interest to the participants. I would prefer not to have the control panel at the bottom of the screen as it is disconcerting. In my opinion it is not suitable in its present form for projection and display to an audience, but no doubt that is not the reason for your production.

[goddi]

Gary

Your show contained some good images and was well put together. It illustrated the event but, as you suggested, is of more interest to the participants. I would prefer not to have the control panel at the bottom of the screen as it is disconcerting. In my opinion it is not suitable in its present form for projection and display to an audience, but no doubt that is not the reason for your production.

Thanks for the feedback. It is intersting to me how people view the Control Panel. I've heard that from others, too. However, when I view others' shows, I wish they had it in. I sometimes want to linger on a particular image or advance to one quickly and not have to endure the entire show. It also gives me the opportunity to 'pause' on any particular image for discussion.

When you say it is not 'suitable...for projection' can you expand on that a bit? Is it just the look of the show or is it more along the technical lines?...resolution, etc. I want to get into projecting shows eventually and I would appreciate it if you can tell me what is 'not suitable'. Thanks again.... Gary

[ronwil]

Gary

My comment about not being suitable for projection was because of the intrusion of the control panel. It is possible to control the show without this showing, but it is not a feature that I use as a matter of course. However, if you use Project Options >Main>Show settings and select "Synchronise Slideshow to Music Duration" and "Permit Control of Show" you should then be able to use the "Pause" button on your keyboard and the right and left arrow keys. No doubt someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Ron [uK]

[LumenLux]

Useful discussion Gary and Ron. It begins to point out the versatility of PTE to satisfy shows with differing purposes. There are some PTE users who are very artistic and use PTE as a tool of expression. Hopefully, we all do that to some degree, but I mean for some, they seek to create a show that can fit the criteria by which it will be judged. Another wonderful use of PTE is exactly as you have done. Clearly what is best for one purpose is not always best for every purpose. I think it is nice to always have reaction of some kind from some viewer(s). No matter what my intended audience/purpose is, I may be able to learn something that will improve what I am doing.

Taking as a example, Ron's distaste for the Nav bar. And he offers an idea that might be a better way in some cases. So I will want to consider that. Meanwhile, just this morning, I have posted a show on Beechbrook that may be the first time I have ever posted a show that has the nav bar available to downloaders.

The show is Thanksgiving 2004 on Beechbrook.com. This show has a similar origin to your Rafting. Thanksgiving 2004 recounts a meaningful life experience that I had in Peru. My first purpose in creating the sequence was to show it to other participants of the experience. I wanted to make the show as meaningful as possible for that "audience." As a youthful photographer years ago, I learned that if I were on a Boy Scout trip in, say yellowstone, and took 95 beautiful shots of the natural beauty and 5 shots of friends fishing, or burping, or eating worms, - which ones were appreciated and enjoyed later by the participants. But now, unless the theme of my PTE sequence is Burping, I will probably expect to show the nice scenics and just maybe one boy with impressive belch being evident. But back to Peru. For my intended purpose, I expressly wanted to make sure that every participant in the original group got to see himself on the screen as an equally important element of the experience.

The first showing was to the participants and we were able to watch it on a giant in-home theater with all the excessive comforts and technology. I downsized the photos to 1024x768 but did not reduce the file sizes by changing the compression. I used highest quality MP3 sound track. The prepared show was perfect and was universally enjoyed and acclaimed - by that small group.

The 2nd use of the show was to make cd's for each of the participants. Not knowing each person's pc power, I made the cd version with jpg quality at 60% per Elements. Content stayed the same. Same almost 400 slides, same quality sound, but I spliced the mp3s together to reduce possibility of a sound problem for an unknowing viewer. And I added the navigation bar, so viewer could stop and recall there own personal experience or look for the detail they remember.

Recently, discussion on this forum prompted me to want to share this show. The show is very long, but I could not justify my time to shorten it to the typical AV "competition" slot. Maybe at some time, I might try something like that with just photos of say Machu Pichu portion of the expedition. For now, I tried to think how this show might be worth viewing for those that might "get something out of it." To bring the show to downloadable size, I had to compromise photo quality with high compression. I reduced sound file size by 75%! Personally, I see the photo degradation more than I notice the reduced quality of the sound. I think the show includes a few photos that might be worthy of a viewer taking a closer look. Some photos really do say a lot, and require more viewing time than the sound-synced pace allows. Hence the navigation bar.

Now, did you include too many similar shots of river rapids? Sure!

or Maybe? Or of course not! You have the privilege of deciding.

Final observation: Beyond the photo quality, beyond the presentation technique, but accomplished by all you did - Your sharing brought me enjoyment and fond memories. Memories of when I rafted for a week on the Colorado River where it is now (probably forever) buried beneath Lake Powell.

[ronwil]

Thanks LumenLux for that very interesting contribution. I have downloaded your "Thanksgiving 2004" for full viewing later. However in the meantime, having looked at the first few images, I was able to use the "Pause" and "Arrow" keys on the keyboard to control the show without the use of the Navigation bar. Looking forward to viewing your sequence in full.

And Gary, the "Pause" and "Arrow" keys also work on "Rafting..."

Ron [uK]

[goddi]

And Gary, the "Pause" and "Arrow" keys also work on "Rafting..."

Ron [uK]

Thanks, LumenLux. Good points. And, Ron, I didn't realize that I could use the keyboard to Pause, etc. Learn something every day. Much appreciated.

Gary